Closer than a Sister
by K.A. Productions
Summary: The Straw Hats have three new crew members! Join Cassie, Mai, and Jareck on their journey with Luffy and the gang! It's OC heavy, but don't let that discourage you from reading.
1. Skipping

Disclaimer:Don't own. Don't Sue.

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AN:Sorry this is short! There should be more in the next chapter. This is only the begining.

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_**MAI'S POV**_

"Cassie, you didn't do this, did you?" I ask as I stare at the charred debris of what was left of the Paradise Isles Grill and Bar.

"I didn't burn it down Mai." she told me.

I sighed with relief. "Good 'cause last-"

"I may have conviced the the chefs there that the resteraunt was possesed by a vengeful spirit." she said interupting me as her face broke out into wicked grin and her violet eyes lit up with delight.

"Cassie you can't keep doing this." I say frowning slightly.

"Doing what?" she asks while batting her dark lashes innocently. She probably thinks it's funny but I am not amused.

"Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about Cassie. You can't keep going around and sabotaging every rival resteraunt that that makes you angry."

"Why?"

"Because it's wrong."

"But it's so fun, and I'm really good at it."she says cheerfully.

"That not the-" I'm cut off by my mobile den den mushi ringing suddenly. I take out the small green and orange snail and answer saying, "Hello?"

"Mai, you ungrateful exuse for a human being!" the voice on the other end shouted in my ear. I automatically recognized the voice as that of my boss,and the owner of the Blue Raven, Butch.

"Hey, Butch," I say while smiling.

"Don't you, 'Hey, Butch' me. You and Cassie were so supposed to be here half an hour ago! Where the hell are you!" Butch yells angrily.

"We're on our way." I answer calmly before ending the call. I didn't feel like hearing Butch yell at me just then. "Butch says 'hi.'" I say as my smile turns into a grin.

"Is he in a good mood?" she asks.

I shake my head as I head toward the Blue Raven. "When has he ever been in a good mood, Cassie?"

"I meant a better mood than yesterday."

"Well he didn't curse me out this time."

"That's good I guess," I sighed. "The man need his mouth to be washed out with soap."

Cassie grinned."That can be arranged..." she said, the evil glint from earlier comming back into her eyes.

I simply shook my head as we started walking off toward the direction of the Cafe before deciding to change the subject to one that wouldn't get us fired.

"I heard from Jarek that there's a new group of pirate staying at the Little Goat Inn. I think he said they're called the Straw Hat Pirates." I said frowning slightly.

Cassie froze in the middle of the street. I looked at her, my eye brows furrowed in confusion. "What? Did I say something wrong?" I asked.

"The Straw Hat Pirates are on the island?"

"That's what I just said Cassie. Have all those fights you've been in addled your brain?"

"We have to go see them!" she screams happily as she grabs my wrist and starts dragging me in the direction of the Little Goat Inn. "Cassie we have work! We can't just skip out to meet dangerous pirates!" I shout while trying in vain to struggle out of her grip.

"Sure we can." she said grinning with a wild look in her eyes that she got when ever she was about to do something she called "fun" and what I called "a new level of stupid."

"What if we make them angry. They'll kill us! Or worse, they'll pilage our house and then kill us!" I screamed.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "They're not gonna kill us."

"What about the pilaging, Cassie! They could burn our town right down to the ground!"

"They're not gonna do any of those things. Besides I'm too pretty to burn."

"That doesn't any sense!" I scream but Cassie ignores my yelling and continues dragging me forward.


	2. Decisions

**Disclaimer: Neither me nor my friend own One Piece. However we do own Cassie and Mai.****Okay, so this is chapter 2. I made sure it was longer to make up for how short chapter 1 was.**

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**CASSIE'S POV**

"Cassie, I don't think this is such a good idea." Mai said apprehensively as we appeared in front of the Little Goat Inn.

I rolled my eyes. "If you're going to be a chicken then you can wait out here."

"Good, I will," Mai said, her light gold eyes showed that her mind was made up. "So just go do your little color changing thing and hurry up and get back here."

"Seriously?" I exclaimed, surprised. "Whatever happened to friends never letting friends do stupid things alone?"

"You'll be fine by yourself as long as you keep yourself hidden with your power."

My 'power' was the ability to change colors like a chameleon to match my surroundings. Anything that was touching me could change color too. That made it real convenient because that meant my clothes wouldn't make me stick out like a sore thumb. I got my special power by eating a Chameleon Devil's Fruit that I stole from the Navy, seven years ago, when I was ten. My dad is one of the top officers in his branch so it was easy to get it. I still don't think he knows it was me who took it. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only two people who know are Mai and Butch. Our boss pays me extra money every week for every rival restaurant I can break into and sabotage using my ability. Mai clearly doesn't approve of this.

"Fine, then," I said. "But, I'm not going to use my ability. I'm just going to go talk to them."

Mai's eyes widened. "Cassie, please be careful."

I rolled my eyes again. Sometimes Mai seemed more like a mother than a best friend-she was always so doting and nurturing. Although, she could say the same about me. I had a tendency to crush anything that hurt my friend. "Don't you worry your pretty little brunette head about it. I'll be fine. Now why don't you go come up with some excuse to tell Butch as to why I'm not at work right now?"

"No way," She said defiantly. "I'm not going inside, but I'm not leaving you here completely alone either. I'll wait outside."

"And you're sure you don't want to come in?" I asked again, grinning as an idea struck me. "After all, I've seen some of the wanted posters of them that were hung up in my dad's base and the first mate and chef look well above the normal level of hotness."

"Is that the whole reason that you want to go in there?" She demanded. "To see a couple of hot pirates?"

I sighed. Actually, I wanted to go in there and see if I could go with them. I don't care what they had me do. I could swab the deck everyday, all day and I wouldn't care much! This was my only chance to find _her_. Mom.

I must have had a strange look on my face because Mai studied my face like she usually did when she thought I was hiding something.

"Cassie," She said softly. "What's wrong? Why do you really want to go talk to those pirates?"

"Do I need a reason other than the two good-looking pirates?" I raised my eyebrows. "Why do you have to analyze everything to death?"

"Why are you deflecting?" She asked. "We're best friends. We've been best friends for nine years. You can tell me anything."

I looked her square in the eyes, violet meeting gold. Fine, then. If she wants the truth then I'll give her the truth.

"I want to join their crew so I can go search for my mom."

She stared at me, wide-eyed and slightly shocked. A couple moments passed and she kept quiet.

"Well," I encouraged. "Say something."

She still didn't say anything. Instead, she looked deep in thought.

"You know your Navy Officer father is not going to approve of you becoming a pirate?" She looked at me seriously. "He's not just going to let you run off with a bunch of pirates."

"I know," I said. "And I've thought all this through already. I'm going to tell him that I was offered a really great paying job as a mapmaker's assistant, and that I'll have to leave with no idea when I'm going to return home. He doesn't need to know the truth."

"Yeah, but what use would a pirate crew have with a seventeen year old girl?"

"Are you kidding me?" I snorted. "I'm no ordinary teenage girl what with my uncanny ability to alter color pigment. I could be their spy if they needed one, and even if they don't I'm awesome with broadswords." Dad taught me the art of the broadswords when I was eleven.

Mai switched tactics. "Cassie, it's been five years since that Bloody Raider pirate crew took your mother. Who knows if she's even still alive?"

I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat at the thought. Still, though, I had to have hope. I had to _try_. Maybe she is still out there somewhere just waiting to be rescued.

Mai sighed. "Okay, if you're absolutely positive that this is what you want to do then I'm on board. Literally."

I grinned widely. "You'll come with me?"

"Yes," She nodded. "I could be the crew's musical entertainer since I can play four different instruments."

"You just want to come 'cause I told you about the hot pirate guys, right?" I smirked.

"Yes, that's exactly right" She said sarcastically. "And my wanting to make sure you're safe has nothing to do with that decision."

I pursed my lips. "What are you going to tell _your_ dad?"

Mai's dad was super-protective. He didn't like her in danger so he made her carry a gun with her. I assumed that he acts this way because he didn't want to lose his daughter like he lost his wife (Mai and I are both currently motherless).

"I'll think of something," She said. "I haven't had time to prepare any excuses, yet. Speaking of excuses, how did you think of one to tell your father so quickly?"

"I didn't think of it quickly," I admitted. "I've been reading up on different pirate crews and chose a few that I think would be safe to go with. The Straw Hat Crew was on my list. I've been planning all this for a few months now."

Mai almost looked offended and hurt. "And in those few months you weren't going to bother telling me your little plan?"

"Of course, I was going to tell you," I said. "I just wanted to see if the pirate crew would have me first."

"Oh," She picked up another topic. "What are you going to do with your cat?"

My cat, Tao, was a two year old Siamese. I found his mother and siblings all dead in an alley. A dog had killed them and dragged them out of our backyard. Tao was only about five weeks old when I took him and started nursing him from a bottle to replace his lost mother. I had formed an instant connection with that cat.

Tao is like my baby. Mai is like my sister. Maybe the reason why I feel so connected to them is because they don't have their mothers with them either.

"I'm not sure," I said uncertainly. "I don't want to leave him behind, but what can I do…"

"Bring him along," A boy's voice said from the doorway of the Inn.

Mai and I both looked over at the same time. The boy was lanky and his skin had a subtle look that reminded me of rubber. His black hair was covered by the straw hat on his head. His boyish smile was infectious and not at all hindered by the scar under his eye. It was the kind of smile that made everyone else smile back like he was an adorable five year old.

I recognized him immediately from one of the wanted posters I saw. The captain of the Straw Hat pirate crew.

"Who are you?" Mai asked curiously.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy," He greeted with a grin. "I heard every word you two just said. Welcome to my crew!"

Mai stared dumbfounded. "_You're _the _captain_!"

I bit my lip trying to contain my laughter at the look on Mai's face. She certainly didn't expect this.

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Hope you enjoyed Ch.2

Extra, extra, read all about it: Teenage One Piece fans looking for reviews


	3. Bonus

AN: Hey this Kya, the aforementioned friend in the summary. Sorry this chapter really late. College is killing my freetime. Hopefully you'll still remeber the story. Enjoy. R&R lovlies.

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece. Don't own 'Small'. I own Mai, Jared,Butch, and the random jewelry salesman. KN-chan owns Cassie.

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My eyes widened in surprise at what the raven-haired boy had said. "Are you serious Luffy-san?" I asked in disbelief.

Luffy grinned. "Yeah! Become one my crew. You sound really cool."

"Why would you let us join your crew? You don't even know us." I said. His reasoning made no sense to me. What kind of Captain chose his crew members based 'coolness'?

Luffy's grin widened even more. "If you join my crew I'll get to know you better, 'cause you'll be my nakama. So join my crew, okay?"

His logic-and I use the term loosely here-made no sense but he seemed like a nice enough guy. "Alright we'll join your crew. Besides, if I don't go Cassie will go anyway, and who knows what mischeif she'll cause if I'm not there." I said smiling up at Luffy. Cassie glared at me, but the glare held no real anger and she was smiling. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, because...We're pirates now, Baby!" she yelled.

"Yeah! Two new crew members for me!" Luffy yelled right along with her.

"H-n."I said shaking my head back and forth. "You guys are way to excited about this."

"You're just not excited enough!" she replied, still whooping loudly.

"Don't you think we ought to be stopping by the Blue Raven and pick up our final paycheck. I'd like to leave this place with some money in my pocket."

Cassie stopped and looked at me. Luffy stopped as well. "Oh yeah, we haven't been paid this week..." she said in a slightly calmer tone. "Since we're leaving I want a bonus too." She said with a smile.

"A bonus for quitting?" I asked frowning slightly.

"We never got one bonus in the whole time we've worked there. The way Butch is always acting we deserve one, don't we?"

I nodded in agreement. "Most definitely." I said.

Then she turned toward our new captain and said, "Hey Luffy-san can we go to the Blue Raven real quick? We need to pick up a few things. It's a restaurant we work at...or at least we used to. We'll be back in time to have dinner with the rest of the crew,okay?"

"Did you say a resteraunt?" Luffy asked his eyes suddenly growing as wide as saucers."Does it have meat?"

"Yeah..." she said sweat-dropping slightly. '...Most restaurants do..."

"Sugei!" yelled happily. "I'll come with you!" he said excitedly

"Okay." Cassie replied back, and so we started walking down the path back to the Blue Raven.

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"What took you so long?" Butch yelled at as soon as we entered. His wild mane of black hair looked even crazier than usual and his left eye was twitching. His whole fat body was shaking. Butch was on edge. Too bad we about to pushed him the rest of the way over. I sighed at the thought and tapped Luffy on the shoulder. He took his eyes off the kitchen where all the the food was made and focused on me.

"Luffy, you can go a head and get a table for yourself. Were goin...ing..." and before I could even finish my sentence Luffy zoomed off towards the nearest table.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! Where have you been? The restaurant's packed!" Butch yelled at us angrily as he stepped into my field of vision.

"Um. Butch we won't be working today. We just came by to pick up our paychecks and leave." I told him. _'3...' _I counted inside my head.

"What?" He asked. His right eye twitched even faster and his face paled.

_'2...'_

"We quit, Butch. We're becoming pirates," Cassie elaborated.

_'1...Boom!'_I thought while mentally grinning.

He then shouted loudly, words that made several of the younger and newer customers wince, but for the most part Butch was ignored. "You're leaving? You can't leave," He said taking steps towards me. "I won't let you!" He yelled reaching out for my wrist. I didn't know what he was going to do but I instantly reacted by taking his arm and twisting it behind his back.

Butch yelped in pain."You little-" I knew what he was about to say so I twisted it his arm a little further with my hand. Once more he yelped out in pain. This time every in the restaurant did notice and they all turned toward us as I glared at him and whispered in his ear, "Don't. Touch. Me. Ever."

Cassie smirked, "You don't seem to understand, so let me explain as clearly as possible. We didn't like working here. We never have and we never will. The only reason your still open is because you paid us double what any other restaurant would. You're vulgar, loud, narcissistic, and we feel we should be paid a bonus along with our last paychecks as an apology."

Butch looked back and forth between Cassie and I.

"A bonus..." Butch said as if he'd never heard of the word.

"Perferably ten percent, please." I said while smiling cheerfully.

Butch just glared at me for a few second before finnaly giving a sigh of defeat. "Cash or check?"He muttered just loud enough for us to hear.

"Cash, please!" I chirped happily as I let go of him.

Butch just glared at me while rubbing his sore wrist before stomping off to his office in the back of the Blue Raven. The people went back to eating once they realized nothing interesting was happning.

I grinned and said,"That was easy," once Butch was in the office.

"Don't you think you went a tad bit over board just now?" Cassie asked.

"Nope." I replied quickly as I brushed my hand on my pants leg.

"You almost broke his arm, Mai." She said with an amused tone in her voice. Aparently there was something entertaining about our current coversation that I didn't seem to get.

"He deserved it. That scumbag almost _touched_ me. There's was no way I was taking any chances. His are the last memories I want to see." I replied while scowling slightly.

"He really creeps you out, doesn't he?" she said.

"You've know idea." I tell her as aforementioned 'scumbag' walked out of his office with two stuffed white envelopes.

"Here. Take you're money and get out." he said as he tossed the envelopes towards us and stomped moodily back into his office. Cassie quickly caught them mid-flight. We counted our money and decided it was a satisfactory amount before stuffing it into our pockets and walking over to Luffy who was still eating even though the table next to him was now piled high with his plates. One of the busboys took some of the plates away and one of our head chefs was curled up in a corner refusing to budge and murmuring something about running out of food. The busboys had wanted to get Butch to make him leave but Butch had locked his office door. I simply stared at the situation with mixed feelings of shock and horror. _'What kind of person eats like this? What kind of person eats this much?'_ I thought.

"Luffy-san?" Cassie asked while poking him in the head with her right index finger. "How is this possible?"

"Whurbs proberber?"(What's possible?) he asked as he turned towards us with a mouth full of food.

"How are you eating so much with out getting sick?" she asked seemingly not the least bit disturbed by Luffy's bad table manners.

Luffy swallowed the plateful of food in his mouth before grabbing his his cheek and stretching it out about five feet. Both mine and Cassie's eyes widen in surprise. "I'm a rubber man!" He exaplained while letting his cheek snap back to it's normal position. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi."

"Eh, Luffy-sama is a devil-fruit user?" I asked.

"Yup!" he said grinning broadly.

"So that's why your bounty is so high. I was wondering how such an innocent looking person could have such a high bounty. You must be really strong, Luffy." Cassie said as she once again poked him out of mild fascination. I would have done the same but poking people is rude."So weird..." she whispered softly.

"I have to be strong. I'm going to be the next Pirate King." Luffy said. Most people would have laughed such a statement, but at that moment I really believed our new captain. There was a determined look in his eyes that told me he was going stop at nothing to achieve his goal.

"I'm sure you will, Luffy-san." Cassie said with a smile.

"So,"I said changing the subject. " Are we done here? If we are then let's go. I don't want stay here any longer. If you guys got here using a Log Post you won't be here too much longer. It only takes three days to set here. We should probably get our things and put them on your ship. We'll need help though. Are any of your other crew members nearby?"

"I dunno." Luffy answered with a grin.

"B-but your the Captain! You should know at least where they might be heading..." I said in shock.

"Well, Sanji and Nami went shopping, Zoro went looking for something, and I don't know about everyone else because that's when I ran off to look for adventure."

"The Marketplace is the closest so I guess we should look for these, Nami-san and Sanji-san, persons first."

"Yosh! More meat!" Luffy shouted as he rushed out of the restaurant with us chasing after him and with cries from one of the busboys back at the Blue Raven screaming that Luffy hadn't paid for his meal..

"Wait up Luffy-san! You don't know where you're going!" Cassie yelled as we hurried to to catch up with the botomless pit that was our Captain.

We eventually found Nami and Sanji at a jewelry stall, but only after we spent fifteen minutes of trying to force Luffy to let go of the rack of lambs at the butcher's shop. Let just say we're never aloud back in that shop ever again; not that it mattered either way.

"Sanji! Nami! Look! We've got new nakama!"Luffy shouted excitedly as he ran towards Sanji and Nami while Cassie and I trailed behind him.

Nami stopped bargaining with the jewelry seller and turned in our direction. Sanji, only one visible eye for some strange reason, turned into a heart as soon as he spotted us.(his other eye was hidden by long bangs)

He was instantly at our sides, knealing down on one knee, kissing our hands, and giving us ridiculous compliments. Cassie giggled and I rolled my eyes. She always did love the princely-type.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Cassie and I say in unison as we bow slightly at the man knealing before us.

"The pleasure is all mine." Sanji cooed back and I had to force myself to roll my eyes again. Guys like this were so annoying. Thank God that Nami woman started introducing herself.

"Hello. My name's Nami. It's nice to meet you." She said shaking our hands.

"Hello. My name's Mai and this is Cassie." I said waving in Cassie general direction."It's nice to meet you too." I said cheerfully. _'She seems nice enough.' _I thought.

"If you ever need anything just ask me. I'll get it for you...for a price..."

Both Cassie and I sweat-dropped._ 'Note to self,'_ I thought, _'Don't ask for things from Nami.'_

"So why'd you decide to join our crew and do you have any specialties?" She asked suddenly changing the subject.

"Well, I want to find my mother. She went missing nine years ago. I've done my research. You guys may be pirates, but you're basically good people. I think I'll be pretty safe if I travel with you. As for my specialties I do pretty good spy work and I wield two long swords."Cassie answered.

"I want to be the most famous musician in the world. I can gain fame several different ways but if I join your crew I can keep watch of Cassie. My fighting style is a special mixture of boxing and street-fighting. I also carry two pistols."

"Can you sing something for us now?" she asked.

"Sure," i answered. "But why?"

Nami shrugged. " I just wanna see what you voice is like."

I smiled. She had a right to question my singing skills. Who wants a musician who can't sing? I just hoped my voice would be good enough. "Sure." I answered before taking a deep breath. "This songs called 'Small', and it's one of my favorites."

**_I just need to get away from me  
I just need to find some peace of mind  
Caught in this game of unmet expectations  
I wanna leave it all behind_**

_**I wanna be small**_  
_**I wanna be just like a child**_  
_**I wanna be quiet in your arms**_

_**I wanna be small**_  
_**I wanna be just like a child**_  
_**I wanna be quiet in your arms**_

_**So in the moment when I lose myself**_  
_**Let the world fade away from me**_  
_**Give me a moment just to see the silence**_  
_**I just wanna be set free**_

_**I wanna be small**_  
_**I wanna be just like a child**_  
_**I wanna be quiet in your arms**_

_**I wanna be small**_  
_**I wanna be just like a child**_  
_**I wanna be quiet in your arms**_

_**(repeat x 3)**_

_**I wanna be quiet in your arms**_

As the song ended I could hear Luffy shout gleefully. "That was so cool! Do another one!" I could feel my face heat up.

"It's not that great Luffy-san...I didn't even play any instruments or anything."I murmured looking away.

Now it was Cassie's turn to roll her eyes. "You need to stop being so modest. If your going to be famous you need learn how to take a compliment." she said with a grin. I shook my head.

"Stop you guys. You're gonna give me a big head. Besides we're drifting from the main reason we came looking for you guys." I said in an atempt to get the subject off myself.

"And that would be?" Nami asked.

"Manpower...er...any kind of power really. We don't really have a preference so long as the job gets done."Cassie tried to explain. "We need some people to help move are things from our apartment."

"I would love to help you lovely ladies move!" Sanji offered with hearts in his eyes.

"Cool, but we'll need more than one person." I said smiling. I had a feeling Sanji was the type of guy that would be easily maanipulated...horrible for dating but still highly useful.

"Well we are in the business district. If there's a bar near by, most likely, Zoro'll be in it. He can help you out. If he refuses tell him I'll raise his debt by 300%," she said with a wicked grin.

_'Oh yeah. I definetly don't want to borrow anything from her.' _I thought.


	4. Meeting the Father

**Do I seriously need to do this disclaimer thing every chapter? Oh, well. We don't own One Piece and have never claimed to. We're just borrowing them.**

**Okay, so it's time for another chapter from Cassie's POV. Sit back and enjoy.**

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"Well, you guys go ahead and find Zoro," I said, biting my lip. "I have to get my stuff moved out and explain to my dad that I'm leaving."

"Oh, that's right," Mai frowned. "Your dad worked night shift last night so he'll probably be back soon. But, you can't move all by yourself…"

"I'll help her!" Sanji said, at my side at once. "You guys go get the Marimo and help Mai-Chan move. I'm going with Cassie-Chan to help her out."

I smiled at Sanji's enthusiasm. He really was cute. I could tell, however, that Mai regarded him similar to how a small child who disliked vegetables regarded broccoli.

"Cool, let's go," I said sending him a big smile.

He went into lover-boy mode again and kissed my hand. "At your service, you beautiful dark-haired beauty."

I grinned and tugged on his hand. "Well, hurry up, then."

We parted ways from the others and began walking the other way to my house. Sanji kept pace with me the whole time, even diverting my direction when I almost stepped into a mud puddle.

"So, my dad will be home any time now," I said as we walked. "And he can't know that I'm leaving with pirates."

"Why not?" Sanji asked curiously.

"Firstly, because, he's a Navy Commander," My voice got quieter as I continued talking. "And, secondly, because a gang of pirates took my mother a while back."

"What pirates?" He asked. "And what's my story if I meet your father?"

"The Bloody Raiders," I said turning to look at him better. "And you're a mapmaker. I'm your new assistant/apprentice."

Sanji frowned and took out a cigarette. "Wouldn't it be a better idea to ask Nami-Swan to pretend to be a mapmaker? She is the ship's navigator." He lit his cigarette and took a long drag from it.

I shrugged at him. "You'll do. I don't feel like going back to find her right now."

He blew out a breath of smoke from the cigarette.

"That's not healthy, you know?" I asked, frowning. I didn't like cigarettes or smoking.

"I know," he sighed. "But, I can't seem to stop."

I pursed my lips in thought. I'd have to break him from that bad habit eventually. It shouldn't be too hard. After all, I broke Mai away from that boy band fetish she had four years ago, _thank God_. No one would expect something like that from a girl like Mai but she had been in the makings of being one of those creepy stalker fangirl types...

"Cassie-Chan?" Sanji asked. "Oh, lovely Cassie-Chan?"

"Hmm?" I asked looking at him.

"I asked which house you live in."

I frowned. While I was wrapped up in my thoughts we had passed right by it. At least we only walked about three houses ahead.

"Back there actually," I said sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I was just caught up in my thoughts, I guess."

Sanji turned all lover-boy again. "Don't apologize, Cassie-Chan. It can be really hard to leave home to join a pirate crew. Everyone in our crew would understand. Someone as beautiful as you are shouldn't be so stressed out about this."

Actually I was thinking about his cigarette smoking and Mai's old obsession, but his assumption for why I messed up was much less embarrassing and I could probably use it to my advantage.

"Oh, you're right, Sanji, I just know you are," I said making myself seem like I was some fragile girl who could shatter if you said the wrong thing. "But, I'm so worried about all of this that I'm so scared."

"Don't worry, Cassie-Chan," Sanji said, pulling me into a hug. "I will take care of you from now on."

"Promise?" I asked pulling back to look him in the eyes. This was too easy. I had a feeling that I would be able to get him to do nearly anything that I asked him to.

"Promise." He agreed quickly.

I unlocked the front door to my house and pulled the door open. "Could you start by getting all of my heavy things to the ship first?"

"Of course," He said at once, not understanding that I had just manipulated him into doing all the hard work.

"Well, really it's only that large trunk in my room, but I'm putting everything else that I need inside of it for you to carry."

"Is your father home yet?" Sanji asked.

"Not yet, but he'll be here anytime now." I said as we walked to my room to get the trunk.

Once we made it into my room I opened the trunk and started throwing out all the dozens of stuffed animals my dad had been getting me over the years. However, I left one in. It was the small stuffed panda shark that my dad had won for me one day at a beach side carnival when I was six. He had also won one for mom that matched mine...

I walked away from the trunk towards my dresser to grab a month's worth of clothes. Hopefully I would be able to get them washed every now and then so I wouldn't have to wear dirty clothes all the time, but I wasn't quite so sure how often a pirate got to wear clean stuff. Next, I pulled out my favorite books from my bookshelf and added them to the trunk along with a few bags of junk food that I had hidden under my bed.

And then I walked over to the sheath hanging over my wall and pulled it down. I removed the two broadswords from it, checking to make sure the blades were sharpened, before replacing them back silently.

"Nice, swords you have there," Sanji said. "I have a feeling that you're going to get along with the marimo really well."

I frowned at him as I place the swords safely in the trunk. "Marimo?"

"Zoro," he clarified. "He always appreciates a nice katana."

Just then we heard a thump from somewhere in the house. Ah, good, Tao wasn't outside so I wouldn't need to go look for him.

"Was that him?" Sanji asked, thinking it was my dad.

"No, that was Tao."

"Who's Tao?"

Then a big ball of cream colored fur blurred into the room and started rubbing up against my leg. He looked up at Sanji and suddenly growled.

Sanji backed away from Tao slowly, probably not wanting to get scratched.

"This is Tao," I said with a laugh.

"Why is he growling at me?" Sanji asked, eyeing Tao warily.

"He doesn't really like other men except for my father and a few old people that feed him sometimes," I explained. "Don't worry, he'll probably warm up to you."

"What do you mean, Cassie-Chan?" Sanji asked. "How could he warm up to me if we're leaving soon?"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you yet," I said grabbing Tao's cat food by my bed and placing it in the trunk, along with some of his toys. "Tao's coming with me. Luffy already said I could bring him."

"But," He was trying to make up excuses now. "A ship isn't the best place for a cat. What if he falls in the ocean or something? Or what if you run out of food for him?"

"Tao not only is a strange cat for liking to swim, but he also has a special chip on his collar that causes my den den mushi to alert me when he's in trouble."

"How did you do that?"

"Oh, the other navy officers that work with my dad are really nice. I got one of them to rig it for me," I grinned. "And as for the food problem, Tao eats pretty much anything so I'm sure you could cook him up something. Maybe he'd like you more if you made him some deep fried fish every now and then."

"I'm not a chef so I can make delicious food for a cat," Sanji said incredulously.

Then we heard the sound of the front door opening. "Shrimp? Are you home?"

"That'll be dad," I sighed. "Let's get this over with"

I took the long way through the house so it would seem like Sanji and I were coming from the kitchen. Dad'll kill us if he knew that Sanji had been in my room.

"Hey, dad," I said in greeting. "How was work?"

He eyed Sanji carefully, like he was trying to get a sense of him. "Just like any other day," he said slowly. "Who's this? He looks familiar."

Of course he looks familiar. Dad passes his wanted poster everyday on the way to his office. Thankfully, my dad has never been good with faces…

"This is Jack Sparrow," I made up a random name. "He's a mapmaker. He agreed to take me on as his apprentice. Right, Jack?" I turned to Sanji.

"Uh, yeah, Cassie-Chan shows immense promise in the field of mapmaking," Sanji said trying to sound convincing. Maybe it was better for just me to talk…

Dad tilted his head in suspicion. He was probably trying to figure out if we were telling the truth.

"Can I go dad? Please?" I begged. "I'll get to see so much of the world. It'll be a really good experience for me."

"I don't want you traveling around the world with a man, shrimp," he said protectively, using the nickname he's had for me since I was little.

"But, Jack and I won't be alone together. He has three more apprentices and Mai is coming with us."

Dad's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why is Mai going? Is she becoming an apprentice as well?"

"No," I said. "But you know how Mai likes to look out for me. She wants to tag along to make sure I stay safe and stuff."

Dad pursed his lips. "Well, I would feel better with Mai there. She's a hell of a lot more responsible than you and I know from experience that she can be trusted to keep you in line."

I made a face. "Gee, thanks." I muttered sarcastically.

"When will you be back?" He asked, his eyes suddenly taking on a sadder look to them. I understood immediately. He didn't want me leaving because I was all he had left with mom gone.

"I'm not sure," I said looking into his eyes, my own grief written into them. "However long it takes me to become a mapmaker."

"And what are you doing about Tao?" He questioned.

"I'm going to take him with me," I said. "The ship were traveling on is pretty big so he won't be too cooped up. Besides, you know how much he loves salty sea air." Tao always used to sit at the top of the boat and smell the air whenever dad took me fishing. He is such an odd cat.

"Right," Dad nodded. "I'm going to be so lonely without you here. When do you leave?"

"Tonight," I said biting my lip. Actually we weren't leaving until tomorrow, but I didn't want anything to slip up that would make him change his mind. I almost expected him to blow up about how tonight was way too soon, but instead he just stepped forward and hugged me.

"I'm not going to stop you," He said looking into my eyes. "You'll be turning eighteen in just a few weeks. I think it's best if by that age you start learning how to do things on your own."

"Thank you, daddy," I said starting to cry. "I love you."

"Love you too, Shrimp," He smiled sadly. "I think I should give you your birthday present early. I might not see you for a while."

I nodded and he walked away to his room in search of my present.

"Are you alright, Cassie-Chan?" Sanji asked me once dad was out of ear shot.

"I'm fine," I said a little hoarsely.

Dad came back in the room carrying a small box wrapped in light blue paper. He handed it to me and I pulled the paper off slowly, careful not to damage it. Once the paper was gone I noticed that it was a small, velvet, black jewelry box. I opened it and gasped.

"D-dad? Is this what I think it is?" My tears started flowing more freely now.

He nodded. "This was the bracelet that your mother used to wear everyday."

I held the small gold chain bracelet in my hand, remembering how mom always wore it. Dad took the bracelet from me and placed it on my wrist, clasping it shut.

"I had assumed that your mother still had this," he explained. "But, she must have not worn it that day. I found it in her jewelry box a few months ago. I figured that she would want you to hang onto it."

"Thank you, dad," I said, wiping some of the wetness from my eyes. "I promise I'll take care of it."

"I know that you will," he smiled. "Now, let's get you packed."

"I'm already pretty much done packing," I said.

He nodded. "So do you want me to carry your things for you or…" He trailed off looking at Sanji.

I shook my head. "No, Jack said he'd do it."

Sanji nodded. "Nice to meet you, sir."

Dad clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about calling me sir. I get enough of that at work. Call me Menderrick."

"Menderrick, then," Sanji grinned at him.

Dad stepped forward and hugged me again. "I'll miss you, shrimp." Then he pulled back and extended his hand to Sanji. "Nice to meet you, Jack Sparrow. You look out for my daughter now."

"Of course, sir," Sanji said instantly.

Dad sent him a look that clearly said 'What did I just tell you to refer to me as?'.

"Oh, I mean, of course, Menderrick," Sanji said correcting himself.

Once I finished saying my final goodbyes to my dad I snatched up Tao and held him in my arms, using his warmth as a way to draw some comfort to me. Sanji lifted my trunk up and we were on our way to the ship. Hopefully, Mai and the others would be back by now.

As I looked up at the cloudless sky, I was filled with a sense of hope. The future seemed bright.

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**Sorry this took so long. I was busy with school, but now it's vacation time and I had more time to write. I hope I got the emotional goodbye with Cassie's dad right. Let me know with reviews, please.**


	5. The One I Fear the Most

Finally updating!

**MAI'S POV**

The swordsman glared at us. Nami glared back at him. He was stubborn but so was she. My stuff was too heavy. There was no way we were leaving the bar without him. Patrons of said establishment backed away from them in fear of the dark auras swirling around them but I just stood there not knowing what to do but not wanting to walk away from the situation.

"I'm not leaving." he stated calmly.

"Yes. You. Are." Nami growled back with her teeth clenched and her hands tightly fisted on her hips.

"No. I'm. Not." Zoro said, glare intensifying. Nami grit her her teeth in frustration, while I stared and worried what would happen next.

"Yes. You. Are." Nami repeated once more. "You still owe me money, Zoro, in case you forgot, so you can either pay right now or GET YOUR LAZY BUTT UP AND HELP OUR NEW NAKAMA MOVE HER STUFF!"She said while yelling the last part of the sentence so loud that the small bar's rafters shook.

Zoro glared at her for few more seconds and for a moment I thought he was going to resist, but instead he grumbled incoherently before standing out of his seat and walking out the door. Nami and soon followed after. Once we were outside I noticed Zoro walking away...in the wrong direction.

"Zoro-san!" shouted out to him.

"What?" he asked irritability as swiveled around to meet my gaze.

"My house is in this direction."I said while pointing in the opposite direction of where he was headed. Zoro made no comment he just started walking in the direction I pointed with out word.

A few minutes later we arrived at my house. It was a small and baby blue all over except for the white porch wooden porch and white tiled roof. I unlocked the door and we all walked inside. I flipped on the lights and sighed happily. There was no place like home. "Okay, all the stuff I need is in my bed room so let's go in there." Zoro made a grunting sound which I assumed was his equivalent of the word 'okay', and Nami flopped down on my living room couch and said, "Call me if you need me." As if she really didn't mean it, and she probably didn't.

Zoro and I headed towards my room. Zoro just leaned against the wall and watched as I pulled out a huge black and red suitcase the size of a medium-sized chest. I placed the suitcase on my futon and opened it while Zoro continue to silently watch my every move with bored look on his face. So the silence went on as I packed my belongings into the large suitcase because I was just glad he wasn't glaring at me.

After awhile though Zoro broke the silence by asking me a question I'd already heard today but didn't mind answering once more.

"Why'd you join our crew?" he asked and I jumped, startled at hearing his deep baritone voice suddenly filling the quiet of my small bedroom.

"I-i wanted to keep Cassie out of trouble and become the musician, but mostly I came for Cassie's sake. After all she is my bff."

Zoro furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "You're what?" he asked.

"Best friend forever." I said with smile as carefully wrapped some small glass figurines before carefully tucking them into a side pocket of the suitcase.

"How do you fight?" he asked, not, "Do you fight?",but how. I grinned. It made happy that he didn't assume that just because I was a girl and a musician that I couldn't fight.

"Boxing and street fighting are my specialties but I also have two pistols", I say while pulling back the white jacket I was wearing so he could see the guns in the black leather holsters on my right hip.

"If your specialty is boxing, why do you need two pistols?"

"I got these before I started boxing. My dad used to be paranoid about me...he still is...That's why if we see him we can't tell him you guys are pirates. I don't know what he'll do if he finds out." I said.

"I'm not afraid of your dad." he told me.

"You don't have to be." I said softly."He's not your father."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means let's get out of here before my dad comes looking for me." I said as zipped my suitcase closed.

"Too late." I heard my father say as he entered the room.

"Father?" I questioned. "How long have you been in my house?"

"I just got here. I came to visit you." he said as his right hand lightly traced the designs on the, now empty, dresser. "When were you going to tell me you were leaving, Maiyanna?" His voice sounded calm but I could tell he was angry.

Dad never called me Maiyanna unless he was angry with me. Lately though it it seemed like I was always making him angry.

"I-i w-was going to come over as soon as I was done packing, father." I lied.

"Of course you were, sweetheart." he said in gentle tone.

"Zoro-san, you can take my suitcase now." said as I continued to watch my father trace patterns in the woodwork with his fingertips.

"I know where the docks are, so I'll catch up with you guys later."

"You sure there's nothing else?" Zoro asked. I wanted so desperately to tell him that there was indeed something else, but I wanted him and Nami out the house more. "No. I'll be fine. You should go. Father and I need to talk alone." Once again I thought Zoro would resist but he simply sighed and grabbed my suitcase and headed out the door. As soon as I heard the door to my porch shut I automatically regretted my decision to make Nami and Zoro leave. After all, no one likes being left alone with the person they fear the most.


	6. Water Can Be Thicker Than Blood

**Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than what I usually write, but this was all I had in me to write at the moment. No worries though. Kya, who writes Mai has been bugging me to post this so she can write her chapter. Hopefully, she'll have that up fairly soon so you won't have to wait too long.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

_**

* * *

**__**Cassie**_

Sanji and I arrived at the docks to find Nami and guy with green hair boarding the ship that Sanji informed me to be the Merry Go. I immediately recognized the guy as the ship's first mate, Zoro, from one of the wanted posters that I had seen.

Ex pirate hunter turned pirate. Interesting, but not really relevant right now. What was relevant was where Mai had gone.

Noticing the question on my face, Nami spoke up answering my question. "Mai's father showed up. I assumed that he would help her pack."

My eyes grew as wide as saucers. "You left Mai _alone _with _him_!"

Tao jumped out of my arms at my outburst and, luckily for me, chose to scramble up onto the ship to hide.

Mai's father was no where near as nice and understanding as mine was. Actually, compared to him, my dad is a saint.

Everyone else became alarmed at my sudden outburst. Sanji turned me to face him, his own eyes almost as wide as mine.

"Cassie-Chan, what's wrong?" He asked concerned.

"Mai's father is horrible!" I shouted. "I can't remember a time when he's every even shown the slightest shred of concern for Mai, and I've known her since she was ten and I was nine. I have to get over there."

I sprinted away, only slightly aware that Sanji, Nami, and even Zoro, were following me.

Mai was terrified of her father. She didn't like other people knowing that particular fear, either. Plus, I knew that if he tried to raise his hand to slap her, she wouldn't stop him.

We finally made it to her little blue and white house, and I saw her father walking out, looking smug. He noticed us and shot a glare my way. He never liked me, probably because Mai always seemed to gain some confidence and stand up to him a bit when I was around. I glared icily right back at him and as we passed each other I purposely bumped my shoulder into his.

Sanji, Nami, and Zoro glared at Mai's dad too, Zoro's glare being nearly if not equally as intimidating as mine. Mai's dad, now visibly frightened, backed away slowly before sprinting away down the street. I could see that my new nakama (I think that was the word Luffy used) were about to give chase, so I held out my arm to stop them.

"He isn't worth it," I said, shaking my head, as I walked towards the house, prepared to do some damage control. "Right now Mai is more important."

I noticed my three followers walking into the house with me. We stopped in the living room when we heard the sound of soft sobs coming from down the hall.

"Maybe you guys should wait in here," I said. I could see that Nami was about to object so I added, "Mai really only listens to me when he gets her like this. Please, just wait here."

Without waiting for a reply, I walked down the hall where I found Mai shakily searching through the bathroom cabinets looking for something. Tears streaked her face and her breathing was slightly uneven.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. "What happened?"

Mai found what she was looking for; a box of band aids.

"Mai, please, tell me what happened," I urged. "You know it always helps when you talk about it."

She turned her head so I could see her full face. Along the left side of her cheek was a scratch about two inches long that was still slightly bleeding, and the rest of that whole side of her face was red. It was obvious that a scar was going to be left over from that scratch.

Just seeing that scratch tempted me to hunt down her loser father and inflict secret military torture methods on him.

"The scratch isn't so bad. His nail just marked my face as he was pulling his hand away from slapping me," she admitted. "It's really more the things he said that got to me."

She didn't say anything else and I didn't ask. I knew that she would tell me when she was ready to talk about it. So, I decided to try and use humor to lighten the situation.

"Do you know how many ex-bosses of ours it takes to cross the road?" I asked, smirking.

She smiled a little. "No. How many?"

"Who cares?" I grinned. "We don't work for him anymore."

She laughed a little but it still came out shaky and uneven.

She started to put the band aid on but I stopped her. "Don't. That scratch is a sign of what you've been through. I don't think you should cover it." I said seriously before grinning. "Plus, we're going to be pirates now, so that mark on your face will definitely make you look just a little more intimidating. Not that you aren't intimidating already, cause believe me, I would definitely not want to run into you in a dark alley."

She rolled her eyes, but I could see the amusement in them. Her personality was finally starting to show through them again.

"Thank you, Cassie," She said, placing the band aid back in the box. "I really appreciate you trying to pick up the pieces for me all the time."

I shrugged. "What are big sisters for?"

She rolled her eyes again. "First, we aren't really sisters. Second, why do you get to be the big sister? If I recall correctly, I'm a year older than you."

I grinned. "Details, details. We may not be technically related, but you're still like a sister to me. And as for the age thing, I feel that I am better adjusted to be the older sister."

"What are you talking about?" She said slightly incredulous. "You're like the pinnacle of immaturity. How can you be better adjusted than me?"

"I have my reasons," I said mysteriously. Really, I thought I should be the older sister because at times like this, when Mai's father was being a total jerk, I would often have to be there to help her put herself back together, much like an elder sibling would do. But, I wasn't going to say that to Mai. I didn't want her to feel like she needed fixing.

"Well," she sighed. "I guess we better get my things and get back to the crew."

"Don't worry about your things. I'll get Sanji to carry them." I said, smiling at how gullible Sanji was and how easy it was to manipulate him.

Mai frowned. "You brought Sanji-san with you?"

"Actually, they followed me," I said sheepishly.

"They?" Mai asked.

"Zoro and Nami, too."

"On the way here you guys didn't happen to see _him_ did you?" She asked apprehensively.

"He was walking out of the house when we got here," I paused. "He stopped to glare at me, I glared at him. You know, the usual. But everyone else gave him dirty looks too. You should have seen how terrified he was of Zoro. Anyway, I pretty much had to stop all of them from chasing him down and murdering him, although he deserves it. It was priceless." I grinned so wide that it nearly stretched across my entire face.

"Really? They were that angry with him?" Mai asked. I could tell that it really touched her that they would be that way for her.

"Of course they were, Mai," I said surely. "We may have just met them, but they already consider us like their family. Nakama, I think, is the word Luffy used."

"Where are they now?"

"Waiting in the living room, probably getting antsy."

Mai smiled. "Well, we better not keep them waiting."

"Right," I grinned again.

And so Mai and I walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to our new family. Our new nakama.

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**R&R please. It might inspire Kya and me to write more quickly.**


	7. Visions, Dreams, and Lots of Screaming

**Yeah I, Kya, get to update again! I hope you enjoy.**

**Mai**

Cassie and I heard two soft gasps coming from Sanji and Nami as we entered the living room. "Mai-chan, are you okay? What happened to your face?" Sanji asked as he moved to get a closer look at the scratch on my face.

"I'm fine," I said smiling as I side-stepped the worried cook. "It's only a scratch from where I tripped in the hallway. There are these sharp nails sticking out the floor you see..." I trailed of not knowing what else to say. I'm such a terrible liar.

"If your fine then why are your eyes red and puffy?" Nami asked.

"My dad and got into a small argument is all, but there is no need to worry. Besides it's all my fault for starting the argument in the first place." I said while still smiling cheerfully. I could tell by look on her face that Nami didn't believe me but there was no way she could prove me wrong and wasn't I going to tell her what happened any time soon. My smile began to waver under intense stare so I decided to change the subject. Furrowing my brows in confusion I asked, "Where's Luffy-san?" Silence rained over the the whole crew as they suddenly realized that Luffy was indeed missing. "You guys have no idea, do you?" I questioned with a sigh.

"We must have lost him somewhere after we all split to get our stuff. Really,you would think at least you and I would have paid more attention to him after the incident with the meat butcher."Cassie said. Zoro sighed loudly as he leaned against the wall. It was the first sound I'd heard him make since I'd entered the room.

"This kind of thing always happens whether we're watching him or not. Our captain is such a pain sometimes."he grumbled in an annoyed tone. "We're going to have to split up again to look for him. He should be wherever the most noise and commotion is."

"So who's going with who?" I asked Zoro as I wondered quietly, **'Why is he just now speaking? I figured someone like him would angry right about now, but he seems relatively calm. Maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he's just doing what everyone else is doing. After all there's no reason why anyone should care about so soon about me, even if, like Cassie and Luffy said, we are nakama now. Just because some is family doesn't mean you care for them. Take my dad for example, he doesn't really care at all. '**

That last thought saddened me but I didn't let it show it show on my face because then Sanji and Nami really would there was something wrong with me. "I don't care who I go with so long as someone helps me carry my keyboard piano, harp, flute, and acoustic guitar," I told everyone. Suddenly Sanji was knelling before and before I could shout in protest he was holding my hand once. This time though I couldn't hear the compliments I new he was spouting at the moment. It the world had gone silent, but I wasn't afraid.

I knew what was happening. Sanji activated my ability to see into the past, and as sound from the present world drained away a bright light flash in front of my eyes as I was abruptly pushed into Sanji's past.

Where or when in past I was, I did not. I didn't even know how long this vision would last, but had learned past experiences never to fight it. It never helped. If I simply observed the vision for however long it lasted I would eventually be pulled back into present time. Until I would simply watch and listen. The place I happened to be was a large kitchen that assumed belonged to a restaurant of some sort. There were many chefs inside the kitchen and all of them were cooking something different. As the chef walked through the kitchen they walked through me as if I were a ghost, which in a sense I was.

Because I didn't technically exist in this time line, people and object went right through me. The past couldn't interact with me, but like any other ghost, I could to so extent interact with them. When ever I passed through a group of cooks they all gave a collective shiver and the fires on their stoves all went out and then flickered back on as soon as I had completely passed through. As I floated through the the kitchen and into the dining room I finally found Sanji. He looked like he fifteen or sixteen years old. He was a bit shorter than he was now but he still had the blond hair that hid half his face and the same curly eyebrow.

He was currently flirting with a brown-haired woman with large dark eyes, and a form-fitting white dress that showed off all her curves...or at least he was flirting with her until the man that I assumed was her boyfriend punched him in the back of the head. Sanji staggered a bit before regaining his balance. "What the hell was that for?" Sanji yelled at the angry boyfriend.

"Stop flirting with my girlfriend!"the man yelled back. **'Yes!'** I thought inside my head. **' I was right. That was her boyfriend. Sanji's such a player even when he's younger, but then I should have known that.'** I thought as I watched Sanji and the nameless man get into a fight while the nameless man's girlfriend tried desperately to stop them to no avail. The fight went on for quite some time until a man with a ridiculously tall chef's hat, a braided beard, and only one leg came into the room and hit Sanji on the head so hard that he slammed into the wooden floorboards.

"Stop fighting with the customers!" the man with the tall hat yelled. "It's bad for business!"

"He started it!" Sanji yelled back as he pick himself up off the floor.

**''He started it!' Really? That's your excuse,Sanji? What are you five years old?' **I thought to myself.

"I don't care who started it!" the man with the really tall hat yelled. "I'm ending it! We don't fight with customers! Now get back to work and stop causing trouble. He ordered before stomping...er, hobbling back to wherever he came from. Once the man with tall hat left Sanji looked like he was going to go back to flirting but it seemed the man and his girlfriend had scurried away when the man with the tall hat had entered so started waiting tables. While a white started covering my eyes and I screamed angrily.

"What the hell? Nothing important has happened yet.! ARRRGGGH!" You see get really irritated when I get pointless visions like this. It just gave me another reason to wish didn't have the ability to see into the past. I was being pulled back into the present I began to calm down. Yelling wasn't going to make things better and I didn't want to wake up screaming. As I woke up though I began screaming once more. You'd scream to if a reindeer with a pink hat was sitting on the edge of the bed you were lying in.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" we both screamed a the same time, me jumping back, hitting my head on wall, and rattling off phrases not readily understood to be bad unless one used a really good dictionary. "Oh no! You're hurt!" the little render screamed in a panicky voice. "We need a doctor! We need a doctor!" he screamed hysterically as he ran around in circle.

"You are the doctor." I heard a familiar gruff voice say. I turned towards the direction of the of the voice to Zoro walking the room through a wooden doorway. There was an amused look on his face as he watched the little reindeer calm down.

"Oh yeah..." The reindeer with rubbing his neck in embarrassment with his tiny hoof, and I just stared in shock. Zoro was talking to a reindeer...and it was talking back.

**'What is going on? Am I losing my mind? Am I dreaming? Dreams don't usually hurt though...' **I thought to myself.

"Are you okay Miss?"the reindeer asked as walked over to my bedside. "You don't look like you're hurt to bad. It'll probably bruise though.

"Really, I don't mind having weird dreams but even my craziest dreams don't usually don't involve talking reindeer." I say as calmly as I can. "Are there talking sheep in this dream too?" I asked the little reindeer.

"What the hell are you talking about woman?" Zoro questioned.

"She thinks she's dreaming, Zoro-kun." the little reindeer answered. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"You mean I'm not dreaming?" I asked. The little reindeer shook his head no. "And I'm not hallucinating either?" Again the little reindeer shook his head no. "But-but you can talk. Reindeer don't normally talk. How are you talking?"

"I ate a devil-fruit, the Hito Hito no Mi." the little reindeer answered.

"Oh." I said. "Just like Luffy-san. So your the doctor of this crew? How long have I been out and where am I?."

"You've only been out for a couple hours and your in a hotel room. Everyone was worried when you passed so suddenly but Cassie-san explained your ability and assured us that you wake up soon. I guess she was right." he said.

"I'm sorry I worried you all..." I said trailing off because I didn't know his name.

"Tony Tony Chopper."said the little reindeer.

"It's nice to meet to Chopper-san. My name is Mai.."

"It's nice to meet you Mai-san. I'm sorry I scared you earlier." Chopper replied.

"That's okay Chopper-san. It's not like you did it on purpose. Besides you looked kinda cute when you were running around in circles."I said smiling down at him.

"Shut up you stupid human!" Chopper yelled as he twirled around. "Your compliment doesn't make me happy!"I sweat-dropped.

"You look pretty happy to me."I said giggling at his silly dance. "So Zoro-kun is there a particular reason you came here?" I asked.

"We figured if you were awake you'd want something to eat by now. We're all going to the restaurant downstairs. You wanna come?" he said.

"What about Luffy-san?"

"Oh, we found him about a half an hour ago trying get into some butcher's shop that he'd apparently already been banned from." I sweat-dropped.

Luffy-san really likes meat, doesn't he?"

"Yeah he does. So you coming or not?" he questioned . I grinned. "I'm coming. I'm coming. Keep your pants on."I got out of the bed and then Chopper, Zoro, and I walked downstairs to eat.


	8. Nicknames and Nonsense

**Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece. We're just borrowing them.**

**Okay so here we go with another chapter from Cassie's POV.**

* * *

Cassie

"So, Captain Stretch, where to first?" I asked Luffy as we all boarded the Merry Go later after dinner.

Luffy grinned when he heard my nickname for him. "We're gonna sleep on the ship here tonight and set out in the morning."

I fidgeted slightly. I wanted to leave tonight before my dad found out that Mai and I were leaving to become pirates. He would have an anuersym if he knew that we were becoming what he was dedicated to hunting down.

Nami stepped up next to where Mai and I were standing on the deck. "Come with me and I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

"I hope you're not gonna charge us to live there cause I'm broke," I joked.

"I'd put it on your tab," She laughed. "Just try not to get in Zoro's situation. He'll never be able to pay me back."

Mai frowned. "You're not really going to charge us are you?"

"Not this time," Nami chuckled and led us into an open doorway. "This is where Robin and I sleep. You'll be sleeping here too."

"Cool," I said depositing my stuff on the place where I was to sleep. "But, where is this Robin girl?"

"I'm not sure..." Nami said with furrowed eyebrows. "I think she said something about finding some book in this town's market, but I figured she'd be back by now."

"Oh, well," Mai said. "I guess we'll just meet her when she gets back, then. Anybody else we should meet?"

"Just Usopp. Other than that you've pretty much met everyone."

"What is Usopp like?" Mai asked.

"He's a liar, a big liar. Don't believe most of what he says."

"Alright, then, I need to go find Tao," I informed them walking out of the cabin. "He ran on the ship when we went to Mai's place earlier. Hopefully he's still around here somewhere."

As I walked back out towards the deck I heard someone sneeze loudly and a voice yelling "Get this furball away from me!"

"What's going on?" I asked, noticing that the voice belonged to Zoro. Tao was currently rubbing up against his leg, trying to get Zoro to pick him up.

He sneezed again. "Your furball is making me sneeze."

"You must be allergic to him," I commented.

"Yes, I got that from all the sneezing when his hair started flying everywhere," Zoro said angrily. "I thought siamese cats had short hair."

"Not all of them," I responded. "Tao is the fluffy kind."

"Well, can't you leave him with your father?"

"Absolutely not," I said with finality. "Tao is like my baby. He goes where I go."

Zoro glared at me for a second before he sneezed once more. That caused his glare to shift to my cat who was still rubbing against him.

"Get back," Zoro said, trying to step away from Tao.

"It's too bad you're allergic to him," I said grinning. "He doesn't usually like men. Just ask Sanji. Tao went off on him."

"So, I'm special?" Zoro muttered sarcastically. "Great. Just great."

I pursed my lips in thought. "Maybe he just thinks that you're a girl."

"What?" Zoro yelled, affronted. "I'm 100% percent male, thank you very much!"

"Okay, no need to get so worked up about it," I said. "I was only thinking out loud there."

"What's with all the commotion?" Mai asked, walking up to stand next to Zoro.

"Tao thinks that Zoro is a girl," I laughed, fully enjoying this.

Zoro sent silent daggers at me. Oh, if looks could kill I'd probably be having an ocean burial soon.

"Cassie, leave Zoro alone. That's not nice," Mai scolded me, picking up Tao and placing him back down farther away from Zoro. "This is exactly why I would be the older sister. You are way too immature."  
"That has nothing to do with it," I said with raised eyebrows. "I feel like the older sister cause I'm always trying to help you through your problems everyday. Like that one time you were late to work and you started freaking out about being fired. Butch wasn't going to fire us because he needed us too much. We made his little business what it is today."

Mai rolled her eyes. "I was only late because _you _decided that you just _had_ to cut my hair for me before work. I'm never letting you near me with scissors again, by the way. That was a catastrophe."

I grinned. "Anyway, moving on to another subject. Where did everybody go? Where's Captain Stretch and Lover Boy?" I had been wondering that since we came back out onto the deck.

"They turned in for the night," Zoro said, looking up at the sky. The sunset had faded away and the sky was becoming darker. I could already see a few stars in glittering dimly.

Mai frowned at me. "Cassie, you're not seriously going to refer to Luffy-San and Sanji-San as Captain Stretch and Lover Boy are you?"

"Of couse I am," I said in a tone that should make it obvious. "I'm still working on a nickname for Zoro. I'm sure I'll come up with something soon."

"Don't even think about it," Zoro said eyeing me warily. "I have katana and I know how to use them."  
"Really?" I asked curiously. "I love katana. I actually use one, too. It's in my trunk. Hang on and I'll go get it."

I never passed up the opportunity to talk with sword enthusiasts. There was just something about the way it feels to wield a sword that sends a shot of adrenaline straight through me.

I ran back to the cabin and retrieved my katana. I returned to the deck and held it out for Zoro to inspect. He took it from me and removed it from it's sheath.

"Really lightweight and a sharp blade. This is quality craftsmanship," Zoro said, impressed as he examined the blade. "Who made this?"

"My grandfather on my mother's side," I stated proudly. "He was a swordmaker. But, I had only got to meet him in passing. Mom married a navy man and my grandfather was a criminal. Not a pirate, though, because he had a big fear of the ocean and preferred to work alone. He came back every now and then to check on me though. And after he heard that my mother was taken he came back again and tried to make me feel better by giving me this katana and giving me lessons on how to use it."

Mai grinned. "Cassie never passes up the opportunity to brag about her family."

I sent her a disapproving look. "That's not true."

"Yeah, it kind of is," She said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'm kind of tired. Luffy-San and Sanji-San had the right idea. I think I'll probably turn in soon, too."

"I'm going to explore the ship a bit," I informed them. "If we're going to be living here then I want to know my way around. Actually, I'm kind of hungry, so I'm going to start by exploring the kitchen."

"We just ate dinner," Mai said in disbelief.

"I can't help it that I'm a human garbage disposal," I rolled my eyes. "At least I'm not as bad as Captain Stretch."

"You could always wake Sanji-San up and see if he'll make you something," Mai laughed. "He seems like a sucker for a pretty girl."

"He is," I said. "And I have no problem with manipulating him, so I think I will do that. And he's nice to look at in a pretty boy kind of way, so I don't mind his obsessing over me too much."

I smiled as I thought about it. Sanji really was cute. I might have possibly even considered dating him if he weren't such a flirt with every girl he saw. Oh, well. I'm pretty good at tricking people into doing things my way, so maybe I'd be able to break him of that along with his cigarette addiction. It would be a difficult task, but someone had to do it.

"Cassie, get that devious smirk off you face and just go find Sanji-San," Mai said while flipping her gaze over to stare at Zoro from the corner of her eye. "I'll probably hang out here with Zoro-San for a bit before I go to bed."  
"Aww," I said, trying to sound gooey. "You have a crush on Z-Chan."

"No, I don't!" Mai spluttered, lying. I could tell when she lied.

At the same time, Zoro shouted "Z-Chan?"

I laughed at the looks on both of their faces. It was too priceless. A fierce red blush had spread across Mai's face while Zoro's blush was a lighter pink and a bit more subdued.

"You are _not _calling me _that_!" Zoro grumbled, glaring at me again.

"Whatever. I'll see you guys later," I smirked. "I'm gonna go find Lover Boy and have him cook me something to eat. If you get hungry you could always meet us in the kitchen. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to persuade Lover Boy into making more food."

I walked away from them, set on finding Sanji, and left them to talk about whatever they wanted to.

* * *

**Please, review. We haven't really gotten a lot of response back for this story and would love it if you guys told us what you think.**


	9. It's What You Call Irony, Love

**Yay for updating!**

**Disclaimer: I don't OP but I do own the songs in this chapter because I wrote them. Please enjoy!**

**Chapter: "It's Called Irony, Love"**

**Mai's POV**

Zoro sat down Indian-style and looked up at me with dark unblinking eyes. "So did you have a reason for coming in here or did you want to just 'hang out'?" he asked me. I sighed before walking over to him and plopping down beside him.

"Actually I wanted to talk you, Zoro-san." I told him.

"About what?"

"..." I wanted to talk to him since dinner but now I felt nervous. I paused, unsure of what to say now that I actually had the opportunity to talk to him.

"About what?" Zoro repeated when I didn't answer him. "Mai?"

"Do you think I'm a bother?" I asked suddenly. Zoro's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Do I annoy you?" I asked rephrasing the question.

"What? You haven't done anything to annoy me." he said.

"...But you had to carry all my things and then you had to come running after me, and when Cassie and I came into the living room you didn't say anything...you looked so angry..." I mumble softly suddenly feeling stupid for saying anything at all.

"What are you stupid?"

I stuttered in surprise. "Wha-I'm n-not-why would-"

"It wasn't you I was angry at. It was you're dad, though I am confused about why you sent me and Nami away. As for having to carry your things,Nami makes me carry her stuff all the time."

"So you're not mad at me?" I asked.

"Baka." he said with a grin as lightly bonked me on the head. "There's nothing to be mad about." I grinned back.

"I guess." I murmured softly as I leaned against the wooden wall.

"So why did you send us away?" Zoro asked.

"My father...he's not a nice man."

"I kinda guessed that already."

"He says things...things nobody should have to here, including you. I was scared of those words...scared of the pain I knew what those words would cause, and it would only be worse if I ran, but that didn't mean you had to listen to him as well. Besides, It wasn't like you leaving would be the death of me. Small marks like this are the worse he ever inflict on me. He knows serious pain affects my gift so that visions more often and he doesn't too many people to know about them. The more attention I get the less privacy he has and father enjoys his solitude..."

"You can't handle everything all by yourself, Mai." He told me. I sighed.

"I know," I said. "But that doesn't mean I have to be so weak if that I ask for it all the time."

"So don't." he said. "Only ask for it when you need it."

I smile slightly. "It's not that easy to do..." I say in an almost whisper.

"It never is." he says smiling back at me. I yawn slightly before rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"Its getting pretty late. I think its time I go to bed." I say before standing up and stretching.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I say in return. "Oh, and thanks Zoro-san." Zoro's left eyebrow arched upwards.

"For what?" He asked.

I grinned. "For listening, of course." He grinned back. "No problem." He said. Then I quietly started making my way to my room. On my way there I bumped into Robin, a tall woman with dark hair, copper skin, and smile that seem to say she knew all my secrets, a ridiculous notion seeing we'd only just met today, and yet still the notion was there. This combined with her almost disturbingly calm voice was very unnerving and I found it hard not to stammer nervously when she was around.

"Muscian-san you are up quite late for some one who is not on watch."

"I w-was just g-going to bed n-now Robin-san." I stammered as I cursed inwardly at my inability to talk correctly in her presence. If Cassie were here she would have found this situation hilarious. Hardly anything intimidates her...except spiders, but I'm not suppose to tell people about that. Robin smiled her I-know-everything-smile.

"Well then have a good night's sleep, Muscian-san." She said cheerfully.

"...Yes, well then thank you. You too should have a good night's sleep as well Robin-san." I told her without, surprisingly, stammering at all, before quickly walking towards my room and getting ready for bed.

The next day I was walking around exploring the ship when heard this unbelievably pitiful whine. I followed the sound bow of the ship only to find Luffy sprawled out on the deck, his mouth wide and his tongue hanging out like a dog in the summer heat. Luffy whined once more and I tried to hold back from giggling.

"Luffy-san, what's the matter?" I said while kneeling down so that he look at me without having to stretch his neck.

"So bored..." Luffy whined.

"Why don't you try playing a game with Chopper-san or Ussop-san?" I asked.

"Chopper making some kind of medicine and Ussop is making new stuff for his slingshot."

"You could go pranking with Cassie-chan." I suggested.

"Can't find her..." he said.

_**'Hm...,' **_I wondered. **_'Cassie must be in stealth-mode...She must be practicing. I have to be careful then. She could pop up anywhere.'_**

I mentioned neither Nami, Robin, Sanji, or Zoro simply because they didn't seem like the type of people of who would enjoy playing games with Luffy. So I suddenly felt it left up to me to keep our captain entertained. After all, I was a musician. It was in the job description.

"Would Luffy-san feel less bored if I played some music?" I asked. Luffy immediately brightened as he sat and grinned broadly."

"Yeah! Are you going to sing now, Mai?" he asked excitedly.

"I'll need a few minutes to get ready first Luffy-san. Can you meet me in about ten minutes by the aft where Robin-san and are lying in the lawn chairs?"

"Hai!" Luffy answered happily before taking off towards the aft of ship.

_**'This is the boy Cassie-chan chose to be our Captain...'**_ I thought as walked over to my room to change and to grab my guitar.

Ten minutes later I was standing in front of Nami, Robin, Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, Sanji, and a slightly irritated Zoro(who was had been sleeping by the mast until Luffy slammed into him on the way to the aft). Cassie of course was M.I.A. Thanks to her chameleon powers but I had little doubt she was nearby. I was currently dressed in totally awesome(and admittedly unnecessary for this performance) vampire biker-chick outfit I'd worn for Halloween last year. Upon seeing what I was dressed as Sanji automatically complimented me on how well I looked as undead princess of the night and I promptly rolled my eyes.

If I kept listening to him I was going to get eye strain from rolling my eyes so much. Why, you might ask, was I dressed up as an undead motorcyclist? Simple. I love to dress up and I only need the smallest of reasons to do so and since my first song was semi-dark in theme I decided to dress accordingly. Though I might have toned it down a bit if I had known it would have scared Ussop and Chopper. Oh well. They'll get over.

I took my my guitar out of my case before announcing my song. "This first song is called "Where Evil Hides"

**(Guitar Intro)**

**(Chorus)**

"**Are you afraid of the dark?**

**Are you afraid of the dark?**

**Do you shy away from its gentle embrace?**

**Do you fear those beast that hide in the night?**

**Hmph! Not I. There are worse things in the daylight.**

**There are worse things in the daylight."**

**(Guitar Solo)**

"**Haven't you heard? True evil hides in plain sight.**

**What need does it have of disguise when it blends so perfectly next to you and I?**

**True evil hides in plain sight."**

**(Chorus)**

"**Are you afraid of the dark?**

**Are you afraid of the dark?**

**Do you shy away from its gentle embrace?**

**Do you fear those beast that hide in the night?**

**Hmph! Not I. There are worse things in the daylight.**

**There are worse things in the daylight.**

**Ghouls and monsters are nothing **

**to those who wander free in the light. **

**Don't you know, child? **

**True evil hides in plain sight.**

**So do not cry**

**When night arrives.**

**For it is a mere trifle compared to what's waiting for you in the daylight.**

**True evil hides in plain sight.**

**True evil hides in plain sight.**

**True evil hides in plain sight.**

**True evil hides in plain sight."**

When the was complete everyone clapped except for Ussop and Chopper, who were still cowering even though I told them before hand that I'm not really going to suck their blood. I sighed. It time for a more upbeat song, one of Cassie's favorites actually.

"This next song is happier." I told them. "It's called "Dance On"."As soon said there was a disembodied squeal of delight before Cassie reaper suddenly in a light blue summer dress in front of Chopper, effectively scaring the beejeebus out everyone.

"I love this song!" She practically squealed.

"I know." I said. "Why do you think I'm playing it, hm?" I said while grinning. "Okay. Her we go."

**(Guitar Intro)**

"**Light as feather**

**Your floating to ground."**

As I began to sing Cassie dragged a surprised Sanji to the center of the are and began to dance with him. The other began dancing as well,(though not in pairs) except for Zoro, who kind of figure wouldn't be dancing not matter what I played.

"**Quick as lighting you dance around. **

**It's as if you are flying and you never want to come down,**

**Moving quickly to your imaginary beat.**

**You feel so light-headed and dizzy.**

**You don't wanna stop**

**And it's possible you never will."**

**(Chorus)**

"**For today you dance in fair folks realm,**

**Where all centered on magic, wine, and love.**

**Where everyday is a celebration of fun!**

**So dance on my darlings! **

**Dance til your hearts' are content.**

**Dance on and on 'cause the party's just started!"**

**(Guitar Solo)**

"**So dance on my darlings! **

**Dance til your hearts' are content.**

**Dance on on 'cause the party's just started."**

When the song was over I and everyone was done clapping I announced that was done for now and that I play more after dinner. Then I went off in search of that liquid nectar commonly known as alcohol. There had to be some on this ship and I was determined to find it. After all, what's a pirate ship without a few kegs?

**Yeah! R&R! Cassie POV will be update soon!**


	10. Monsters of the Green Eyed Kind

**Finally, I updated! Sorry for taking so long but I've been kind of lazy lately. I'll try to update sooner.**

* * *

Cassie

After Mai took a break from singing, I started to go back to the girls bunk room, intent on reading a book that Senpai (Robin) loaned me the night before. However, as I was walking, my nose forced me to take a detour when I caught a whiff of something delightful. I walked through the halls and into the kitchen, following the wonderful scent. I paused in the doorway when I saw Sanji's familiar face.

"Hello, beautiful, Cassie-Chan," Sanji said smiling. "Welcome to my kitchen."

"Thanks," I said while inhaling. "What is that delicious smell?"

Sanji grinned. "Double Dutch Chocolate Cake. Take a seat and have a slice."

I smiled at him and did as he instructed, taking a seat at the table in the middle of the room. I was eager to put a taste to the smell.

Sanji placed a plate in front of me with a piece of the cake on it. "You got here just in time. I just took this out of the oven so it's still warm."

I took the fork that he offered me and dug into the cake, gently bringing the chocolate to my lips.

Just one bite and I was in heaven. The cake was soft and smooth, rich but not too rich. It melted in my mouth just right.

"What do you think?" Sanji asked, apprehensively. "I adjusted the recipe to this a little while ago. You're the first one to try it."

"It's incredible!" I said in wonder. "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"Not for long," Sanji said grinning. "Just wait until you taste some of the other masterpieces I can cook up."

I looked up at him adoringly. "I can't wait."

Sanji walked over to the refrigerator and pulled two glasses out of the freezer. "Perfectly chilled strawberry cocktail. You thirsty?"

I pursed my lips. "I don't really drink. Mai does, but I don't. I'm generally the health conscious one out of the two of us. Always have been."

He smiled a little. "It's just some tequila mixed in. I doubt that would turn you into an alcoholic. Besides, everyone on the ship loves my cocktails."

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get me drunk?

"Wh-wha-_what? _No, beautiful, Cassie-Chan, I wouldn't do that! Please, forgive me for whatever made you think I would do that."

A girlish smile formed across my face and I giggled slightly. "Relax, Lover-Boy. I was only kidding. Don't get so worked up about it."

He looked into my eyes for a minute trying to see if I really was pulling his leg. What he saw must have been sincere because he nodded and smiled at me again.

_One Hour Later_

Sanji and I were still in the kitchen, talking about anything and everything, when Nami walked in.

"Hey, you two, come on. Mai is ready to sing again," She said. "She told me to come and get you."  
I laughed. "You're not gonna charge her a delivery fee are you?"

Nami smirked. "I might."

I smiled again. I've been smiling an awful lot around these people. "Okay, then. Let's go I guess."

Grabbing Sanji's arm, I pulled him up out of his chair and dragged him along as we went back to where Mai had set up to prepare for singing.

I saw Mai staring at Zoro out of the corner of her eye. She blushed slightly and then looked away. I turned my attention to Zoro and noticed that he was looking curiously at Mai. He must have caught her staring.

"Okay, guys," Mai said. "This song is called 'Soul Mates' and I wrote it a long time ago when I was thirteen and a hopeless romantic. Just give me a minute and I'll start it. I have to adjust this microphone."

"Care to dance again, Cassie-Chan?" Sanji asked charmingly. I was really tempted to accept but I had something else to do.

"No, thanks," I said turning on my heel to walk towards the ship's first mate. "I'm gonna go dance with Zoro."

Zoro looked up at me as I walked closer to him.

"Let's dance, Z-chan," I said cheerfully.

He looked at me like I'd grown a second head or something. "What?"

"You. Me. Dance. C'mon Z-chan," I repeated.

His face clearly had an expression that said 'what the hell?' "I don't dance, and stop calling me Z-chan."

I rolled my eyes and reached for his hand, dragging him out to the dance floor. "I have some stuff to talk to you about."

I placed my hands on his shoulders. He looked at me a moment before his hands found my waist. Awkward. This was very awkward.

I looked over to Mai. She was staring at me in annoyance.

"You gonna sing or stare at us?" I asked her.

Her annoyed stare changed into a glare. I could only imagine the ways she was thinking about killing me.

I heard a quiet giggle. I looked over and saw Senpai laughing behind her book.

Still miffed at my behavior, Mai started singing.

_Your eyes they shine_

_Like stars in the sky_

_This dark world brightens_

_You help me fly_

_My soul is complete_

_When you're here_

_You are my love_

_I need you near_

Zoro and I swayed side to side as I thought about what to say. I knew this was just as weird to him as it was to me.

"So, Mai really likes you," I said after a moment of thinking.

"Huh?"

"You know," I said, trying to think of how to explain this. "She _like _likes you."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "No, she doesn't."

I rolled my eyes at his obliviousness. "Of course she does."

_You know that my heart belongs to you_

_And everyday without you makes me feel so blue_

_I have these unfamiliar feelings that you stew_

_When we're together I feel so brand new_

"Look at the facts Z-chan," I said. "She blushes when you're around and now she's glaring at me for dancing with you. She's jealous."  
"I'd say Dartbrow is the jealous one," Zoro said, spinning me so I faced Sanji.

Sanji glared at Zoro, looking dejected and hurt at the same time. I frowned. Why was Sanji so upset.

"I don't get why he's so upset."

"You really don't," Zoro said smirking. "And you said I was oblivious."

_I keep dreaming_

_About our life_

_If you were with another_

_It would cut like a knife_

_I can see_

_Us old and gray_

_Together forever_

_Each and every day_

I frowned at him. "I for one am not oblivious. Sanji flirts with every girl he meets. Girls probably turn down his offers to dance every day."

Zoro shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm done discussing this with you, Cassie."

I sighed and let him drop the conversation. I didn't really like talking about this either anymore.

_You know that my heart belongs to you_

_And everyday without you makes me feel so blue_

_I have these unfamiliar feelings that you stew_

_When we're together I feel so brand new_

What was wrong with us? I was beginning to think that both Zoro and I were really kind of screwed up somehow. I knew he was'nt understanding how Mai could have feeling for him already, but...could I be the same way with Sanji?

_You know that my heart belongs to you_

_And everyday without you makes me feel so blue_

_I have these unfamiliar feelings that you stew_

_When we're together I feel so brand new_

The song ended and I dropped my arms from Zoro's shoulders at the same time that he released his hold on my waist.

"Thanks for the dance," I said awkwardly.

"Yeah, well, that's the only dance with me you'll ever get." He said with finality.

"Fine with me." Dancing with Zoro was weird anyway. It kind of felt like that one father-daughter dance with my dad at the ball that his Navy platoon threw that one time.

"Cassie, can I have a word with you?" Mai said walking towards me.

* * *

**So what do ya think? Like it?**


	11. Resistance is Futile

**Hey guys. Its me, Kya. Yes I'm still alive but I didn't have any internet for awhile. My mom bought some AT&T though so I can finally post. Yay! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Op. Don't Sue.**

**Mai**

"Cassie, what was that?" I asked in as calm a tone I could muster.

"What was what?" she asked with fake innocence. The vein in my jaw twitched. She was toying with me.

"You know very well what, Cassie. Why'd you dance with Zoro?" I questioned. Cassie grinned.

"I wanted to to talk to him about your mutual attraction." she stated. I instantly felt my face heat up.

"Y-you did what?" I asked, my voice taking on a higher pitch than normal.

"I told Zoro that you like him." she said rephrasing the statement with an amused tone in her voice.

"Cassie!" I practically screeched, "Why would you tell him that!"

" 'Cause it's true and you guys would look so cute together."

"Are you insane?" I continued to screech loudly.

"Mai, I'm right next to you," She said in an annoyingly calm voice. "Control your volume."

"Forget the freaking volume!" I screeched. "Does your whole life run on impulses, Cassie?"

"Pretty much. Yeah." she said with a smile.

"Argh, Cassie! Don't you see anything wrong with what you just did?" I asked. Cassie grinned.

"You mean besides making you go completely postal? No, I don't."

"Cassie," I tried to explain. "One I don't like Zoro-san, and if I did, which I don't, there is no way he'd like me back. Especially since _**we just freaking met. **_Two, by dancing with Zoro-san _**to a slow song, **_you've clearly upset Sanji-san somehow. Three, if you wanted talk to there are so many better times to do it than during a dance he clearly doesn't want to partake in."

"Zoro so does like you and you like him to too. You're just in denial, and Sanji'll be fine. He probably gets turned down all the time."

"Cassie, I'm not in denial." I argued.

"Yes you are," she argued back. I slumped to the floor and crossed my arms over my knees and in front of my face to muffle a scream. _**'Why was Cassie being so stubborn about this?' **_My anger and will to argue were slowly breaking down and she knew it. I could never last long arguing with her and feared this was a fight I just couldn't win. Cassie knelt down next to me and moved my arms out of the way so she could see my face.

"Mai," she said, her voice suddenly a soft whisper. "Would it be so bad if you actually like Zoro? Would it be so bad if he liked you in return? Z-chan a good person. I can tell. He wouldn't purposely do something to hurt you. Stop fighting and just enjoy being liked by someone who isn't a total jerk." By the end of her speech all of my resistance had completely faded. Especially since the more I listened to her whisper softly like that the more I realized she had a point.

I had been fighting myself and I'd been stupid. Zoro was cute. When he walked into a room my heart fluttered and my pulse raced. He was strong. His voice gruff but somehow it didn't scare me. I liked talk to him. I felt comfortable and safe around him. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if told him how I felt. Unlike Cassie, I doubted seriously that he felt the same way about me, but he even so he deserved to know the truth.

"I'm going to tell him, Cassie. I'm going tell him how I feel." I told her. "But only one condition." I said. Cassie gave me questioning look that told me to continue. "You have to explain to Sanji-san why you danced with Zoro-san." Cassie looked as if she were going to protest but then she changed her mind and grinned."Deal." she said before giving me a hug.

After our little "discussion" I went of in search of Zoro. I figured if I was going to get rejected I might as well get it over with as soon as possible. I found the green-haired swordsman sleeping by the mast. I stood over him, biting my lip, trying to decide if Zoro knowing the truth was worth waking him up and making him angry. The decision was taken out of my hands when he cracked open his left eye to look up at me. It seemed presence alone was enough to wake him.

"What?" he asked in his usual gruff voice.

"Zoro-san," I said practically forcing myself to speak above a whisper because of how nervous I was. "I need to talk you about something. I-its very important." Zoro sat up, suddenly wide awake.

"What about?" he asked. I took a deep breath as sat next to him and wiped my hands on my jeans. My hands were beginning to sweat.

"Earlier when Cassie dance with you she said I liked you, as in **like** liked yo-" I began but Zoro didn't let me finish.

"You don't have to say anymore Mai." Zoro said. "I know you don't like me." he said in tone that I almost mistook for sadness but it could have been embarrassment or pity...or both...

_**'Was he blushing? No. It was just a trick of the light.'**_ _My_ face flushed red. _**'Why'd Cassie have to tell him I like him? I'll never be able to look directly in the eyes again...' **_I thought. "Actually," I began. "I do like you Zoro-san. I mean I haven't known you long but I feel weird whenever you're around —but in a good way. I feel so...so I don't know...happy, I guess is the word, whenever you walk by and I know you probably don't feel same the but I just thought that you should know."

"Mai," Zoro said, his face tinting pink a little more prominently. "Shut up."

"O-okay," I said embarrassed. **_Does this mean he doesn't like me?_**

"Next time we dock would you like to go out with me?" Zoro asked looking in my eyes.

"Like a- like a date?" I questioned, a smile starting to form on my face.

Zoro smirked in amusement. "Yes, Mai. A date."

Zoro and I shared a smile and the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering faster at the knowledge and feeling of Zoro liking me back.

**Hope you enjoy. R&R. Ayumi-chan post quickly M'kay?**


	12. Just Say No

Hey, Ayumi here. I went back and edited the last chapter because Kya made Zoro a little too OOC. So I fixed it to the best of my ability.

This chapter might be a bit short. I'll make up for it next time it's my turn to write.

Disclaimer: As much as I wish we owned One Piece, we don't.

* * *

**Cassie**

I smiled as I looked at Mai and Zoro. I was using my camoflage power so they couldn't see me. Quietly, I slipped away in search of Sanji, making myself visible again as I turned the corner.

I found Sanji on the deck, leaning over the rail and staring at the ocean. He brought his lit ciggarette up to his mouth and took a long drag from it.

"What wrong, Chef-Man?" I asked with a small smile.

He glanced over at me out of the corner of his eye. "Cassie-chan, don't worry about me," He smiled sadly. "If you like the marimo that's fine."

I laughed in amusement. "Sanji, I don't like Zoro like that. In fact, that was one of the most awkward dances of my life, coming in second only behind my dance with my dad."

"But," Sanji insisted. "You blew off dancing with me and went to ask him instead..."

I grinned. "That's only cause I was trying to set him up with Mai. And it worked. Did you see the look on Mai's face when I was dancing with Z-chan? It was priceless, and I knew then that I'd only have to listen to Mai scream for a while before she realized that she liked him."

"I wasn't really paying much attention to Mai-chan," Sanji admitted. "I was too busy looking at you."

I smiled. "That line was _**so**_ cheesy."

"It was," he smiled wryly. "But it was true. I really like you Cassie-chan."

"Aww," I said happily. "I like you too, loverboy."

"So," he paused and looked in my eyes. "Will you have dinner with me later?"

I smiled and shook my head. "No."

He looked hurt. "B-but you just said-"

I took his ciggarette out of his hand and threw it over the side of the Merry Go and into the ocean.

"What was that for?" He asked, confused.

"I won't go out with you until you quit smoking."

He looked horrified. "_**What?**_ Quit smoking? But, I _**need**_ to smoke!"

I gave him a hard stare. "You don't _**need **_to smoke. You just _**want **_to smoke."

"But why do I have to give up smoking?" Sanji frowned at me.

"Because it unhealthy and turns your teeth yellow. I don't like it and if I'm going to date you I want to make sure you don't die like twenty years before me cause of cancer," I stated. "And also because relationships require to sacrifice some things."

He blinked. "What are **_you _**sacrificing?"

"My time to help you quit smoking," I grinned. "And this'll be a good thing for you anyway. Like I stated before, smoking is unhealthy, and I'm just trying to help you be the best Sanji you can be." I patted his arm. "I'll give you some time to think about it. Anyway, I need to go feed Tao, so I'll get back to you later."

Just because I knew it might help his decision a little, I leaned over and kissed his cheek before I started walking away.

Once I made it back to the girl's room, I rung the little bell that I used to let Tao know it was time to eat. I laughed in amusement when he popped his head out from under Mai's blanket. He jumped down and trotted over to me, rubbing against my leg.

"Hey, boy, meal time," I said, scooping food out of the bag of his food that I kept with my things, and placing it in his bowl.

He purred happily as he ate. I ran my hand through his fur twice before going in search of Mai.

"Hey, little sis, what's up," I asked when I found her sitting on the floor near where all the alcohol was. My face scrunched up in confusion. "You're just sitting here, not drinking anything?"

She smiled. "I actually don't want to be drunk right now."

I looked at her knowingly. "Cause of Z-chan, right? See I told you that he liked you back."

"You did," She said reluctantly. "And once again, you were right."

I grinned. "Ah, how I love to hear those words!"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so smug. It's annoying."

"Maybe I should try some of this," I said pulling out a bottle.

"No, that's vodka. That's _**way**_ too strong for you. And since when do you drink?"

"Since Sanji made a strawberry cocktail for me earier," I said nonchalantly. "I think I'm ready for this stuff."

"You can't just go from drinking a girly cocktail to drinking straight vodka. Are you crazy?" Mai looked at me incredulously. She stood up and took the bottle from me, putting it back and pulling out a different one. "Try this. It's just regular beer."

I opened it and took a sip. Immediately, upon tasting it, I pulled the bottle away from my mouth and forced myself to swallow the drink.

"That was terrible!" I grimaced. "It was nothing like what Sanji made!"

Mai grinned. "Of course it wasn't. Before you drank a strawberry flavored cocktail. Now you just drank straight beer. I knew you wouldn't like it. You always pegged me as a wine type of girl."

"If you knew I wouldn't like it then why did you let me try it?" I asked with a glare.

"I thought I should teach my little sister not to drink." She laughed.

"Very funny," I said sarcastically.

"C'mon," Mai said, ushering me towards the door. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry. Let's go get some food."

"Alright," I said, giving in. "Let's go. Maybe I can convince Captain Stretch that there's no more meat on the ship."

"That would be awful mean of you," Mai said. "But oh, so funny."

* * *

How was it? Let us know with reviews please.


	13. Permanent Blush

**Yay for updating! Bet you thought we died or something. Nope. We're alive. I just haven't been able to upload anything in while. Hope some still remembers this story… **

**Mai's POV**

At lunch I sat next to Zoro and we planned our date as we ate. "So Zoro-san," I asked. "What would you like to do for our date?"

"Well first of all if we're going to date you've got to stop using such a formal honorific on my name." he told me. I blushed. I used honorifics with everyone except Cassie. I'm used to it.

"Zoro-kun?" I asked. I tried to be less formal without dropping the honorifics completely. It felt good to call him Zoro-kun instead of Zoro-san. Zoro grinned.

"I guess if you have to use an honorific that one is okay." he said, the amusement clear in his voice.

"So _Zoro-kun_, what do you want to go on our date?" I asked once more as I took a sip from the water in front of me. Zoro shrugged.

"I don't really care where we go. Why don't you pick?" he asked.

"How about a picnic and a hike? We could go when we're at the next island and spend the whole day together. " I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." he said before ate a piece of grilled fish with his fork.

"Alright then," I said enthusiastically. "I'll make the picnic stuff in the morning before breakfast with Sanji-san 'cause if you help me Sanji will end up arguing with you and all we'll have is ham sandwiches. We can leave after breakfast. "Zoro smiled.

"You've been thinking about this since our talk earlier haven't you?" he asked, the amusement back in his voice. I blushed. I felt like I was doing that a lot lately.

"Maybe...so what if have?" I muttered. Zoro grinned and my blush deepened.

"You blush a lot," he said.

"I do not," I denied. Zoro grin widened.

"Yes you do."

"I do not."

"You're a terrible liar," he told me. "But that's actually a good thing." I gave him a questioning look.

"It is?" I asked.

"Definitely. It means I'll you'll have to be honest with me since I can see through your lies. It makes you easier to trust." I smiled. I'd always found my inability to lie well quite annoying but if it made Zoro trust me more then it could be slightly less annoying.

I wanted so badly for the date the date to go well. I was both excited and terrified at the same time. Hopefully everything would go well.

* * *

**-In the morning-**

"So will you help me please Sanji-san?" I asked the cook early in the morning. "I don't really know what to make for a picnic and I don't want to buy store bought bento."

"You know the marmio wouldn't care if you did buy store bought bento. He's not very picky when it comes to what he eats," he said while leaning against the kitchen counter. I bit my lip nervously.

"I know," I said. "But it's our first date. It just doesn't seem right to buy the food. Besides what if I end up buying the one food in the whole world that Zoro-kun doesn't like? I just think it would be a lot easier if you helped me."

"Alright, I'll help make food for your picnic Mai-chan. But only because you asked me to and the marmio-head."

"Thank you so much, Sanji-san!" I practically squealed. With Sanji's help, this lunch would be amazing.

"You're welcome Mai-chan." He replied smiling. It was weird seeing him so calm and not fawning over me, but then again it would be bad if he were dating Cassie and still flirting with every girl he saw. Plus, he was much more serious when wasn't flirting. I wondered if Cassie had seen this serious side of him yet. I wondered if it was one of the reasons she liked him. Sanji-san was a lot less annoying then he first seemed to be. Maybe we could become good friends. Cassie would like that. The thought made me grin.

"Okay so first maybe should make some rice balls. They are simple to make and don't need to be kept in a cooler, so they are perfect for picnics."

"Sure. That sounds good." I replied, and so it went over and over again with Sanji suggesting food items (and a drink that thought would go well with the meal) and helping me prepare said food items until we had basketful of food ready.

"Arigato Sanji-san." I thanked him as I closed the lid on the picnic basket. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"I'm sure you would have managed just fine without me Mai-chan." Sanji told me. I shook my head in disagreement.

"No I wouldn't, and you know it." I said with a grin. "Anyway I hope to be back by dinner so goodbye until then, Sanji-san."

"Good bye Mai-chan. Have fun and don't let the baka marmio-head get lost, okay?"

"Will do." I said with smile before walking out of galley. I found Zoro snoozing by the mast. I gently shook him awake. "Zoro-kun," I called softly. "Time to wake up. It's time for our date." Zoro yawned and stretched before standing up.

* * *

"Hey, Mai. You're ready to go already?" He asked. I grinned.

"Sanji worked really fast to help me put this picnic together, so we're all set."

"Okay then. Let's go." Zoro said before heading off the ship with me in tow.

There were feathers everywhere except on Zoro. Feather on the grass, feathers on the blanket, feathers on the trees, feathers on me, feathers everywhere except on Zoro. Where Zoro sat was a feather free zone. It just wasn't right.

"I know what you're going to say, Zoro-kun," I told him as I picked feathers out of my hair. "Don't say it." Zoro snickered.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," he said, the amusement ringing clear thru his voice.

"Yes you do Zoro-kun. I can see it in your eyes. I know I look ridiculous. Please don't comment." This was just great. My first date with Zoro and I've already managed to make a complete fool myself. 'Lovely. Wonderful. Fan-tas-ma-freaking-gor-ri-cal. If I had a beak I could be a giant chicken.' I thought as I continued picking feathers out of my hair.

"It's just I don't understand how this happened to you. Why'd all those birds suddenly attack you?" He asked, still trying to keep from burst out with laughter at the hilarity of my present situation.

"Animals hate me," I stated. It wasn't really explanation really but it was how I felt at the moment.

"Animals hate you?" he repeated in confusion. I nodded 'yes' and sighed.

"Animals in general don't seem to like me very well, so when I tried to shoo away the birds from the onigiri instead flying away like birds normally do they got angry and attacked me."

"You're lucky they didn't rip your clothes or hurt you anyway," he said. I sighed.

"No, they just got feathers everywhere—except on you for some strange reason—and basically ruined everything…"

"Mai, they didn't ruin everything. We can still finish the hike and we can eat back at the ship when we're done. Are you going to let a few little feathers ruin your day?" He said with a grin. I grinned back.

"You know Zoro-kun, you're surprisingly optimistic about all of this."

"Naw, you're just overly pessimistic about it. You don't date much, do you?" He teased.

I could feel my face grow hot with indignation. "So what if I don't? What does that have to do with anything?"

Zoro's grin turned into a smirk. "Nothing. It's just an observation." My face darkened another shade. It was almost impossible for me to stay angry with him when he looked at me like that. And so it went for the entire date, me tripping, stuttering, being chased by wild animals, and in general making a complete idiot of myself while Zoro teased me my face color-clashed with his hair. There was no way he'd want to go out with me again. If Zoro did it would only be for a good laugh…


	14. What are Friends For?

Two posts in one day? Awesome. This chapter is what Cassie was up to while Mai was on her date with Zoro. It's mostly just Cassie and another OC that we're finally introducing.

* * *

**Cassie's POV**

I was on my way to the galley to see what Sanji was up to when the thought suddenly struck me. Jareck.

Mai and I forgot to tell our other best friend that we were leaving to become pirates. Jareck is probably _so _upset with us...

Diverting my course, I changed directions and started heading back to the girls' room. Once I was there, i grabbed my notebook from my bag and tore out a page. Taking out a pen, I began to write.

_Jareck,_

_I realize you're probably upset with us for not telling you we were leaving and I apologize for that. I know it's not a very good excuse, but Mai and I were so excited to become pirates that telling you just kind of slipped our minds. You probably heard that we left second hand from my dad by now. I can imagine how hurt you must have been and I can't apologize enough for what we did. _

_With love,_

_Cassie_

_P.S. I partially blame Mai for this. She's supposed to be the responsible one. She should have reminded me that we needed to say goodbye to you._

I read over the letter a couple times to make sure I was through and then sealed it in an envelope. All that was left now was to get it to a seagull to mail it. I was grateful that we were docked on an island. I could just get off the ship and try to find a place where I could get this sent out.

I placed the letter in my sling bag and pulled it over my shoulder. Giving Tao a quick pat on the head as I walked by, I proceded to run off the ship and head into town, eagar to get the letter delivered.

As I was walking through town, looking for a place to mail my letter, I felt something hard and metal tap my shoulder. I turned around and saw a familiar face, standing about six feet tall with a head full of shoulder length light blue colored hair. Hanging loosely in his hand was his trusty metal bat that he took everywhere with him.

"Jare!"

"Cassie!" He repeated back, slightly amused, slightly angry. I could also hear a little hurt in his voice and I mentally slapped myself for forgetting about him.

"Jareck, what are you doing here?" I asked. "I mean, it's not that I'm not happy to see you because I am, but really, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? Let's talk about it. My two _best friends _just up and leave without telling me and you ask me what I'm doing here? I followed you guys here. This is the next nearest island to ours so I assumed you'd be coming here. And I was right." Jareck is a good eight years older than me, age 25, so he didn't need to ask for a parent's permission to just leave like I did.

He frowned at me. "How could you guys not tell me? Did you know how worried I was about you and Mai?"

I sighed guiltily. "I'm really sorry, Jare. We got so caught up that we just forgot. I know that's not an excuse." I pulled the letter out of my bag. "But, look, I remembered that we hadn't told you and I wrote you a letter. I was on my way to find some way to get it delivered to you when you found me."

"Can I read it now?"

I nodded. "Sure." I handed him the letter.

Opening up the envelope, Jareck read through the letter. "Well, at least you eventually remembered. That's something, I guess. Thanks, babe, and I forgive you. But, um, where's Mai? Do I need to yell at her for forgetting, too?"

I grinned. "Mai's on a date right now. She's not to be bothered."

Jareck grinned, too. "A date, huh? Is he hot?"

"I guess. You would probably think so. You and Mai tend to have the same taste in men."

"What's he look like?"

I shrugged. "He's tall, kind of rugged looking, green hair, and he fights with swords."

Jareck got a dreamy look in his eye. "Well, he definately _sounds _hot. And the swords probably make him even hotter. You gotta love a man with weapons like that."

I rolled my eyes. "Just remember, Jare. This guy is straight and he likes Mai. Don't get your hopes up."

He laughed. "I wasn't going to. Now, come on, why don't you show me around the ship I'm about to call home, huh, hun?"

"You're coming with us?" I asked excitedly.

"Yup. You can't just expect me to stay behind while you and Mai are off on awesome adventures, can you?"

I smiled brightly and threw my arms around him in a hug. "You're the best, Jare! Let's go. I'll introduce you to everyone." I released my hold on him and grabbed his arm, dragging him along with me as I started fast walking.

"Are you sure they'll be okay with me joining up?" He asked, worried.

I rolled my eyes. "You have nothing to worry about there. Just wait until you meet our captain. Trust me when I say that Captain Stretch will have absolutely no problem with someone who wants to join his crew."

"Captain Stretch? Is that his actual name or just one of those crazy little nicknames you come up with for people?"

"It's a nickname," I said, tugging him along. "And, Jare? Thanks for forgiving me for forgetting to tell you we were leaving."

Jareck shrugged. "What are friends for?"

"You are still going to get on Mai's case about forgetting, too, right?" I grinned. "Cause I want to be there to watch when you do."

"Don't worry about that. I'll string her along for a while before I tell her I forgive her."

"And then we'll tell her the good news that you're joining us?"

"Yeah. Definately."

* * *

Okay, so that was pretty much mostly Cassie and Jareck the whole chapter. What do you guys think of Jareck? Review please.


	15. Sweet Revenge

**Okay, this one is a bit short but you get to see what an awesome actor Jareck is.**

* * *

**Mai's POV**

On our way back to the ship I tried to apologize for messing up so much of the date. I brushed a lock of my short reddish-brown hair behind my ear before taking a deep breath. "Zoro-kun I'm really sorry," I began.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"Well for both of the bird attacks, the bear that chased us, falling into a river, the wild dogs that chased us, and for in general, ruining our date." Zoro just rolled his eyes and grinned.

"You didn't ruin anything Mai," he told me. "_I _had fun. Plus I've never seen someone get chased by _humming birds _before," he teased. I flushed scarlet. It figures I would be the only person in the entire world to manage to anger humming birds.

"You really had fun?" I asked. Zoro's grin widened.

"Yeah, I did. So there's no need to apologize."

"Okay," I said since I didn't know what else to say.

"You tried to apologize for being clumsy," Zoro pointed out. "But you can't really help it if you're not all that graceful."

"I know," replied since I didn't feel like telling him that the reason I was so clumsy was because I was around him.

"Besides," he continued. "It's kind of cute." My face flushed once more (he's right I _do _blush a lot) and I looked at the ground instead of looking at him.

"Well I'm glad you had a good time Zoro-kun," I managed to say after a while. "We should do this again sometime. Just not on a forest hike," I added quickly.

"We should," I heard him reply and even though I wasn't looking directly at him I could tell he meant it.

When we arrived back at the ship I was surprised to see Jareck, my best friend other than Cassie, angrily tapping his foot and glaring at me from the deck of the Merry Go. As soon as I saw him I instantly knew why he was so angry.

"H-hello Jareck." I greeted nervously.

"Hello Mai," Jareck practically seethed.

"Jareck, this is Roronoa Zoro. Zoro-kun, this is Jareck. He's a friend of mine."

"It's nice to meet you," Jareck said to Zoro.

Zoro made a non-committal grunt in return.

"What are you doing here Jareck?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

"You know exactly why I'm here," Jareck said to me. "I'm your and Cassie's best friend. How could you just leave me without saying goodbye first? You could have called, written a letter, left a God damn note! Something!" I suddenly felt really bad for forgetting about Jareck. There was so much happening that I just forgot about him.

At this point Jareck was starting to yell. "Don't you guys care? Do you know how worried I was? How could you be so cruel?" After this Jareck broke down into tears—he's a very emotional person you see—and I could take no more.

"Jareck, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I forgot. I didn't mean to worry you. Everything was happening so fast that I just forgot. Please, forgive me! I'm really really sorry" I said trying to get him to stop crying.

"Okay," he said suddenly blinking away his tears. "I forgive you," he said, grinning at me. I blinked as I realized what he'd done.

"You were faking," I said and Jareck's grin widened.

"Yeah, I was," he admitted. "But that's what you get for forgetting to say goodbye to me."

I grinned. "As long as you're not really mad at me I'm fine."

"So," he said abruptly changing the subject, "guess what?"

"What?" I asked, seeing as I was used such quick changes of subject.

"I'm joining your crew."

"What?" Both Zoro—who'd been silent till now—and I asked at the same time.

"I'm joining your crew, hun," he repeated. "You didn't think I miss a chance to get off that boring island and travel the world did you? So I'm joining your crew. Brought all my clothes and supplies right here as soon as your captain approved of me." He said as tapped on a huge trunk next to him that hadn't noticed before because Jareck had been yelling at me.

"Supplies?" Zoro asked.

"I'm a tattoo artist." Jareck explained. "This trunk's got my equipment in it. You interested in tattoos, hun?"

"Hun?" Zoro said, questioning the odd pet name Jareck used on everyone he met.

"You know, hun, as in honeybun, or I could call you cupcake instead, but you look more like a honeybun kind of person to me." Jareck explained.

"I'd rather you'd call by my real name. Those are annoying." Zoro told him.

Jareck shrugged. "If it really bothers you I guess I won't call you hun or cupcake. I'm going to unpack."

"See you later Jareck." Cassie and I said at the same time.

"Later Cassie. Later Mai." He said as he picked up his trunk by one of the side handles. "Later Sweetness." He said to Zoro with a smirk as he walked off towards his room.

"Don't call me 'sweetness' either!" Zoro shouted after him but Jareck just ignored him and continued on his way.

* * *

So what did you think? R&R.


	16. Happy Birthday

Hey everybody. Ayumi here. This chap is really fluffy, kind of like cotton candy.

* * *

**Cassie's Pov**

_Two Weeks Later_

"Happy eighteenth birthday, Cassie!" Mai said to me as I walked into the galley for breakfast that morning.

I smiled. "Thanks. Did you get me a present?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. Did you really have to ask?"

"Happy birthday, beautiful Cassie-chan. I got you something too." Sanji said eagerly.

I blinked, suprised. "You did? But only Mai and Jareck knew today was my birthday."

"A few weeks ago your father mentioned that your birthday was in a few weeks and he gave you that bracelet early," He explained. "So I bought you a gift as well even though I didn't know when the exact day was."

I smiled. He really was charming and I certainly didn't expect that he got me anything. "Oh, thank you, Sanji!"

"No need to thank me. Anything for such a gorgeous girl as yourself." He said, kneeling down to kiss my hand. I really hoped he chose to quit smoking, but it's been a couple weeks since I gave him the option...maybe he decided not to?

Jareck cleared his throat. "Happy birthday, babe. Okay, lets eat breakfast first and then go onto the deck where Mai and I have prepared a special suprise for you."

I grinned. "Really? What is it?"

Jareck looked at me disapprovingly. "It's a suprise, babe. I can't tell you."

"Not even a hint?" I pouted.

Jareck smirked. "Nope."

I sighed and took a seat at the table. Everyone there wished me a happy birthday, only Luffy's sounded more like 'Mraphy Mirfmay' because his mouth was stuffed with bacon. Seriously, how much could the guy eat before he got sick? I was beginning to think he didn't have a breaking point.

"Thank you, everyone."

Sanji placed a plate of food in front of me. "Here you go, Cassie-chan."

My eyes lit up. "French toast! My favorite!"

Sanji smiled, pleased. "Mai-chan told me this morning that it was your favorite and asked me to make it for your birthday breakfast."

I grinned. "Well lots of thanks to both of you, then. I haven't gotten to eat this since before I joined the crew."

"You better return the favor for my birthday next month." Mai said teasingly.

"I will." I said sincerely.

We all spent the next fifteen or twenty minutes eating breakfast and chatting about all kinds of different things. I watched, amused, as I saw Luffy's hand drifting towards Mai's plate and her still uneaten bacon. She smacked his hand away.

"But you weren't eating it!" He pouted.

"I like to save the bacon for last." She said, frowning at him.

There were laughs, giggles and chuckles all around the table.

"Is it time to open my presents yet?" I asked as Sanji cleared the table when breakfast was over.

Jareck sighed. "You are so impatient. But, yes, it is."

"Yes!" I pumped my fist in the air.

We all made our way to the deck where another table had been set up with a large cake and several presents on it.

"What kind of cake is that?" I asked, my mouth watering at the sight of it.

"Triple chocolate fudge with dark chocolate icing." Mai answered.

"Yum!"

Jareck handed me a medium sized present wrapped in bright purple paper. "This one is from me."

I eagerly tore at the paper, not even bothering with trying to preserve it. I mean, it's gonna get ripped eventually anyway. I opened the box and smiled at what I saw. Inside were several paintings, painted on medium sized square pieces of canvas. I flipped through them. There was one of Jareck, Mai and me all together, one of me with my parents, and one of Tao.

"Thank you, Jare! I absolutely love it! They are all so beautiful."

He smiled and hugged me. "I'm glad you like them. I've been working on them for weeks. I started over several times, trying to get them just right."

"Sanji-san, why don't you give Cassie your gift first. I want to save mine for last." Mai said.

Sanji nodded. "Okay, then. Here you go, Cassie-chan. I didn't wrap it because I didn't want you to get a paper cut on such delicate hands."

I saw Mai roll her eyes and heard Jareck snort in amusement.

"I'm not fragile, Sanji. One paper cut wouldn't kill me. But thanks for caring." I said, amused, reaching out for the present.

This box was small and looked suspiciously like it held jewelry inside. My suspicions were confirmed when I opened the black velvet box to find a pretty set of earrings with amethysts stones in them.

"They're beautiful, Sanji. Thank you."

He smiled. "I saw other pretty earrings as well but the color on these matched your eyes. I knew I had to buy them as soon as I saw them."

I blushed, speechless, and smiled as I slipped the earrings into my ears, glad I had decided not to put any other earrings on this morning.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Sanji. I love them."

He got a dreamy look in his eyes and smiled widely. "I'm glad. Beautiful earrings for a beautiful girl."

Mai interrupted the little world I was in with Sanji. "Sorry to interrupt your little lovefest, but can I give you my present now?"

I laughed. "Go ahead."

Mai reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. It looked old and worn with age. She gave it to me and I unfolded it gently, careful not to rip it.

"Is this...?"

"That poem you wrote about our friendship a year after we met? Yeah, it is."

I furrowed my eyes in confusion. "And why are you giving me back something that I wrote?"

She smiled. "Because I added music to it and turned it into a song." She picked up her guitar, which was leaning against the table, and started to play.

**{verse 1}**

**My friend, my sister**

**Into my life you came**

**As quickly as a twister**

**And ever since, you've remained**

**My bestest buddy is what you are**

**I know I can count on you**

**whether near or far**

**{chorus}**

**Because your the greatest friend I've ever had**

**Even when at times you make me mad**

**And we will always be best friends**

**And I promise to never stab you with a pen**

Everyone looked over at me at the last line of the chorus. I shrugged. I was ten when I wrote that and I couldn't think of anything better than 'I promise not to stab you with a pen.'

**{verse 2}**

**You always buy my lunch for me**

**Whenever I run out of money**

**And you always help me up when I fall down**

**And stop me from acting like a clown**

**{chorus}**

**Because your the greatest friend I've ever had**

**Even when at times you make me mad**

**And we will always be best friends**

**And I promise to never stab you with a pen**

**{repeat chorus twice}**

**{guitar bridge}**

**{repeat chorus again}**

**{song ends}**

I had happy tears in my eyes by the end of the song. When she put her guitar down, I got up and hugged her with all my might.

"I'm glad you liked it, Cassie, but you're cutting off my air supply. Can't breath." She said, trying to loosen my grasp.

I laughed and let go. "Thank you, Mai. This was the best present I could've asked for."

She smiled. "No problem, Cassie. And, again, happy birthday."

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Okay, so that was an awful sweet chapter all around. Review, please, and hope that Kya gets the next chapter up quickly.


	17. Breaking the Habit

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece. But the OC's Cassie, Mai, and Jareck are all ours and you can't have them.**

**Okay, this chap is from Kya. FINALLY. It's kind of short but I'm not going to complain. And without further ado, read on.**

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**Mai's POV **

Cassie was still worrying about the fact that Sanji hadn't quit smoking yet. I could see it clearly. It was written all over her face. Every time she glanced at him— when he wasn't looking of course— she looked as if she were going to sigh sadly. It was hard not to notice. Actually Sanji was starting a program designed by Chopper to help him quit, but with all the planning for Cassie's birthday he most likely hadn't gotten a chance to tell her.

She'd find out soon enough anyway even if he wasn't planning on telling as soon as the party was over, which he was by the way. Jareck has a few friends who quit smoking and one of his assistants at his tattoo shop recently quit smoking as well. Jareck said you can tell when a person is trying to quit smoking, especially if that person is trying to quit with out any medical aid or just stops smoking all at once.

He says the that when people quit smoking they go through withdraw for a few weeks. The withdraw makes people very irritable and snappish. They might start having shaky hands and find it hard not to think about their old addiction constantly. He also says they might show signs of depression as well. It'd be kind of hard for Cassie not to notice if any of these things happening. I have feeling this is going to be a very difficult couple of weeks for Sanji...

* * *

"So exactly how many lighters do you have?" I asked Sanji the next day after breakfast when Jareck suggested Sanji get rid of most of his lighters. Sanji didn't seem to be too thrilled about the idea of getting rid of his lighters but he answered anyway.

"Counting the two that are in my pockets, 22 working lighters and three that don't work but I still have anyway, but two of the working lighters aren't for lighting cigarettes. I mostly use those for candles and *flambe foods." Sanji replied.

"Are they all in one place?" I asked.

"No," he answered back. "They're sort of scattered in different places that I happen to go to through out the ship. None on or near this mast we're by though. Really, I don't want to get rid of any of them even if I am quitting smoking."

"But if you are quitting there's no point in keeping so many lighters,right?" Jareck pointed out. "I doubt there will ever be an emergency big enough to require all 22 of those lighters, Hun."

"That's not the point." Sanji said, a vein popping on his head. "And don't call me Hun. I am not a pastry."

"How about 'cupcake'?"

The vein on Sanji's forehead twitched. "That's also a pastry..."

"What about 'princess'?" Jareck asked with a grin.

Sanji glared. "Now you're just saying things to piss me off."

"Not really," Jareck said with the same grin on his face.

"I just want to find an appropriate nickname for you. I think maybe I'll just call you 'Blondie' It's you're hair color and a dessert."

"Do you have a death wish?" asked with aura of anger swirling around him.

"Not really. No." Jareck answered calmly. "But seeing you angry like this kinda cute. You're kind of easy to provoke."

"I do not want to here that from you!" Sanji yelled. I held back a smile. Watching these two was kinda fun.

"Ah, but I only speak the truth. Cassie has good taste. I'm sure you'll both be very happy together." Jareck said.

"Ah...um, thank you I guess..." It seems Sanji didn't quite know how to respond to quick change from teasing him to encouraging and approving of Cassie and his future relationship all in the same conversation.

Jareck's grin widened. "No problem. Oh, and by the way I know you really like your lighters but don't be surprised if a few them go missing. Cassie may hate smoking but she really likes lighters, especially ones with cool designs on. If she finds any she probably won't tell you about them cause she'll think it's helping you quit smoking. So don't freak OK, Blondie?"

"Don't call me that!" Sanji protested. And they were back to arguing. It seems Jareck can't help teasing Sanji. It doesn't help that Sanji really is easily provoked.

"But it suits you Sanji-san." I said with a smile and I meant it. I kind of like the nickname Jareck had given him even though I wouldn't dare use it.

"You think so Mai-chan?"

"I mean your hair **is **blonde. I see no problem with the nickname. At least Jareck's not calling you sweetness." I said

Sanji grinned. "True. The marimo hates it when he calls him that."

"So relax, kay? You're gonna be stressed out enough as it is when your amount of cigarette intake is reduced tomorrow." Sanji sighed.

"You're right. This is going to be really difficult..."

"I know but I'm sure you can do it, especially with the whole crew here to help. Plus, you and Cassie will start dating and won't that be awesome?"

"That's right!" Sanji exclaimed his eyes turning into hearts and his whole body doing the noodle dance. "Soon I will be with my precious Cassie-chan!" I giggled at his little dance and Jareck chuckled. Sanji really did like Cassie and his way of expressing said affection was too funny.

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**Reviews are like drugs. Please feed our addiction by reviewing lots and lots.**


	18. Less Smoking, More Flirting

DISCLAIMER: Don't own. Don't sue.

Hey, guys, Ayumi here. Time for another exciting installation of CTAS. There's a twist this time though, and I have instead written from the POV of Jareck. I still wrote Cassie too but she's at the end and it's a small part. Anyway, I hope you have as much fun reading Jareck's POV as I had writing it.

* * *

_Jareck_

"You ready to do this, Blondie?" I asked when I met Sanji on the deck the next day.

Sanji took a deep breath and tried to appear calm, but I knew his nerves must be on edge. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Kay, then. Hand 'em over," I held out my hand. Mai and Zoro had already confiscated all the other packages of ciggarettes that Sanji had hidden around the ship, but I knew he must be keeping some with him. "I'm the keeper of the ciggs from now on."  
His eyes widened. "B-but you can't just cut me off completely all of a sudden! Isn't it recommended to keep reducing the amount I smoke for a while first?"

"Yes, and that's what we're doing, Blondie," I explained. "But you can't be trusted to keep the amount you smoke reduced. So, I'll be holding on to your ciggs and giving you one every hour. Tomorrow I'll reduce it down to one every two hours and the day after that it'll be even less."

I waited, my palm out, for him to give me the packages he had on him. He gulped and handed four packs off to me, looking almost regretful at them. I had a feeling this was going to be a long couple weeks ahead of us...

"I'm going to go make lunch," Sanji sighed. "Hopefully it'll take my mind off of smoking for a while."

With one last longing look at the ciggarettes in my hand, Sanji turned and started waling towards the galley.

Even though I knew he's Cassie's potential boyfriend, that didn't stop me from staring at his rear end as he walked away.

I grinned and decided to tease him a little. "Nice buns, Blondie! Don't accidently burn that bread near the oven!"

Sanji turned and looked at me incredulously, his face becoming stained with a light pink hue. He quickly turned away again and made his way back to the galley. I found it amusing that he pulled his shirt tail down a little to try and cover his bottom.

Carefully, I took the packs of ciggs in my hands and tucked them into my pockets, creating a big buldges in the sides of my jeans. Seriously, how did he carry that many packs with him all the time? This is rediculous.

At some point I realized that I was being watched. I looked over and noticed Usopp starting at me. I raised an eyebrow spoke flirtaciously.

"See something you like, tiger?"

He blinked once and blushed. It wasn't really the kind of blush that I could get from Zoro or Sanji. Usopp's blush seemed different somehow, like the blush you get when you flirt with someone. I got the impression that he might be playing for my team. I couldn't be sure though because when I joined the crew and was asking about all my new friends Nami mentioned something about Usopp being in love with this girl from his island or something like that.

"No!" He denied immediately. "I was just noticing that your hair is dyed blue but you have brown roots. That got me thinking about the time I dyed my hair camoflauge and hid in the forest, blending in with my surroundings, just waiting to take the enemy's off guard. They were all surrounding me, but I got them with my superior strength and intelligence."

I rolled my eyes. "You don't need to lie to me you know. I won't think any more or less of you no what kind of things you've accomplished in life."

"I'm not lying." He said it so convincingly that I almost believed him. Almost.

I chuckled out a "liar, liar, pants on fire" and then tilted my head in comtemplation. "Hmm, pants on fire...I think I'll call you Hot Pants."

His blush deepened. "Wh-what? Hot Pants?"

I smirked. " You have a really cute stutter, you know that?"

"I-I don't know what to say to that..." His face was bright scarlet now.

"I know what to say. How's about you and me have dinner later? Just the two of us? You're really adorable and I find your nose endearing."

"N-no, I'm not like that." He cleared his throat. "I mean I'm not gay. I like women."

"You like men too."

"No, I don't! And stop insisting that I do!"

"So why don't you prove it?"  
His face turned incredulous. "Prove it? How?"

I grinned. "Go out with me one night this week and if you still don't feel anything then I will admit that you're not gay."

"G-go out with you? L-like a d-date?"

I turned and winked at him over my shoulder. "Yup, but I want to plan it first so it's special. I'll get back to you with the details. See ya later, Hot Pants."

"I'll prove to you I'm not gay! We'll go on this date and I'll prove it." He yelled to me.

This was gonna be fun. "Save some of that determination for the date will ya? I like my men fiesty."

And with that, I walked away to check up on Sanji. Best to make sure he's not sneaking in any ciggarettes.

_Cassie_

I stopped Zoro as I passed him in the hallway. "Hey, Z-chan have you seen Mai, Sanji, or Jareck today? I didn't see any of them this morning.

He grunted at the nickname but otherwise answered me. "Well, Mai was up in the crow's nest with me for most of the morning."

I raised my eyebrows suggesstively. "And what were the two of you doing up there together all morning?"

Zoro grunted."Not what you're thinking at all. We were just reading."

"_Reading." _I scoffed. "That's not very romantic. What were you reading?"

He actually blushed this time. Whatever they were reading must have been good. I'll have to ask Mai about it later.

"None of your business," he said. "Now if you're looking for Jareck and Dartbrow, last I heard they were on the deck working on that plan to get Dartbrow to quit smoking."

I blinked in suprise. "What? A plan to quit smoking?"

"You didn't know about it? They've been planning it for a while. Even went to Chopper for help with it."

I smiled. "Really? That's wonderful! But why didn't they tell me about this? Was it supposed to be a suprise or something?"

Zoro shrugged. "I dunno. Why don't you go ask one of them?"

I sighed. "You are absolutely no help."

"I never claimed to be any help to you."

I shook my head and chuckled. "See ya later, Z-chan."

And with that, we went our separate ways.

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So what'd you guys think? Honestly, Jareck is my fav character to write. I had a lot of fun with his dialogue.


	19. Nervous Questions

**Sorry this took so long to get posted, guys. It was Kya's turn to write and she didn't have internet access for a while.  
**

**Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece.  
**

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**Mai's POV**

I yawned and stretched out like a lazy cat as I woke up from the nap I'd just taken. I smiled, feeling content and well rested. Lucky for me I hadn't had any of the nightmares I usually had when I fell asleep. In fact, I hadn't dreamed at all. It was a rare but welcomed occurrence. Once I got done stretching I got up off my bed and started heading towards the kitchen to get something to drink. On my way there I bumped into to Cassie.

"Hey Cassie." I greeted cheerfully.

Cassie took one look at my semi-disheveled state and grinned.

"Hey Mai. You're awfully ruffled up for someone whose just been reading all morning." She said with an amused tone in her voice.

I frowned slightly at what her tone implied. "I took a nap afterward," I explained. "I just woke up."

"Uh-huh." The annoying amused tone was still in her in her voice but I decided to ignore it instead of explaining my self further.

"So, where are you headed?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I was looking for you actually." she replied.

"What for?"

"How come you didn't tell me Sanji was starting to quit smoking?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I thought Sanji-san had told you. I guess he didn't get a chance since your birthday party was going on two days ago and he was busy planning his quit smoking schedule with Jareck yesterday. Are you going to go talk to him about that now? I was going to get a drink from the kitchen but I can get one later if you want to be alone when you talk to him."

"Would you?" She asked. "I really do want to talk to him alone."

I grinned. I really did want Cassie and Sanji to get together, and hopefully now they could.

"Alright, then," I said. "Promise you'll tell me what happened later?"

Cassie grinned back. "Of course."

"I'll see you later at lunch then."

Cassie told me goodbye as well as well as we both headed off in different directions, her towards the galley and me back towards my room. If I couldn't get a drink right now I might as well work on some new lyrics and practice some new songs till lunch. Luffy was bound to ask me to play something new again real soon. After all, I was the ship's musician. It was my job to keep him entertained.

* * *

**[FAST FORWARD TO AFTER LUNCH] Jareck's POV**

It had been such a nice day today, nice and cool the way I like it. So after lunch I decided to spend some time on the deck relaxing and watching the clouds go by. I'd do something productive later. For now though I felt like being a bit lazy. I had to stop myself from grinning as Ussop approached me on the deck. It was clear he had something to ask me something and that he was nervous about it. It was cute. It only served to make me believe even more that maybe he did want to go out with me. After all, if he didn't then why was he so nervous about it?

"Um, Jareck?" He asked nervously.

"Yes?" I asked unable hold back any longer the grin that had threatened to spread across my face as soon as I'd seen him walking towards me.

"For our, um...our, ah..."

"Our date." I finished for him.

"Yeah. That." He said, fidgeting nervously. "Um, what should I wear?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. I didn't really care what he wore to our date so long as he showed up.

"Just wear something nice." I answered. I figured such a vague answer would allow him to wear pretty much as anything he wanted. Really, he could show up stark naked and still fit under what I considered "nice" attire. Unfortunately for me, I highly doubt he'd actually do something like that.

"Something nice?" He asked with his brows furrowed in confusion, a slight frown marring his face, as he turned the last part of my answer into a question. Clearly he wasn't satisfied with such a vague answer.

"Yes. Something nice." I said, refusing to explain further.

Usopp sighed as he realized no further explanation would be given.

"So when exactly are we going to do this anyway?" he asked.

"Tomorrow." I said as the grin I'd had from earlier widened.

"Tomorrow?!" Usopp said, the shock written all over his face. "I thought you needed time to plan?"

"Yes, but I didn't say I needed a lot of time, now did I?" It was impossible to keep the amusement I felt at the moment out of my voice. "We'll have a dinner date. Is that okay with you Hot Pants?"

Usopp sighed. "Yeah...I guess that's fine."

"Good." I said with a toothy grin. "Anymore questions?"

Usopp shook his head no. "No. That's all I wanted to ask...I guess I'll see you tomorrow..." He said before wandering off towards the crow's nest for the first shift of this night's watch.

I noticed that, not once, did he try to lie or imply that he was completely straight. Maybe he was starting to believe it himself. After all, even a compulsive liar could only lie to himself for so long before the truth came out.

I smiled. Tomorrow night was going to be interesting.

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Review, please!


	20. Of Clothes and Kisses

Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece.

Cassie's POV

Walking into the galley, I noticed two things. One, Sanji had dark shadows under his eyes, as if he was very tired. And, two, he was cleaning compulsively.

"Um…Sanji? You okay?" I asked, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Cassie-chan!" Sanji dropped the wash cloth he was using to scrub the countertop. "Oh, I'm sorry, Cassie-chan. You startled me."

"Are you okay? You don't look so good." I asked, concerned. "Mai told me you were trying to quit smoking. Is that what this is about?"

"I'm…I'm fine. I just haven't had a cigarette in a while. Jareck was supposed to bring one for me half an hour ago according to the schedule."

I blinked in surprise. "Why haven't you just gone to find him then? I mean, I'm glad you're trying to quit but you aren't supposed to just stop cold turkey, right? Doesn't the withdrawal have bad side effects?"

"Yes, but…I want to quit as soon as possible," He said, smiling kindly at me. "Especially if it means I get to be with you, Cassie-chan."

"Sanji…you're so sweet. I don't even know what to say…" Leaning over, I kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

His hand moved to the cheek I'd just kissed. "Wow…that was a thanks in itself, my beautiful Cassie-chan."

I winked. "And there's more where that came from."

Sanji smiled. "I look forward to it."

"Me too. Now," I pushed on his shoulder a little to get him to walk. "You can't quit cold turkey. It'll have negative effects on your body. Go get a cigg from Jareck. You need to reduce the amount you smoke slowly. Follow Jareck's schedule and you'll be in good shape in no time."

Smiling at me, Sanji nodded and left to go find Jareck. "I'll see you later, my love."

Feeling happier than I've felt in a while, I let myself wander the ship aimlessly. However, I burst out of my little happy bubble when I tripped over a shoe. "What the heck…?"

Looking into the room that the shoe came from I saw Usopp throwing clothes in every which direction.

"Um, Usopp? What's going on? Do you always search for clothes like a girl getting ready for a big date?"

Blushing, he turned to look at me. "What n-no!" He stuttered.

"Then what are you doing?" I asked, confused.

Trying to look as dignified as possible, he puffed up his chest and spoke. "I'm trying to find this special under armor that I have that allowed me to save the day many times over the years. Were it not for me, everyone on this ship would be dead."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh huh."

"It's true," He said, faking offense.

"You can tell me the truth, you know?" I said calmly. "I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. Maybe I can even help you."

He stared at me in thought for a minute. "You've been friends with Jareck for a long time, right?"

"Yeah. Ever since I was a kid."

"So…can you tell me…what his favorite color is?"

I blinked. "What? Why…?"

"I, um…" He blushed some more and mumbled something incoherent.

I tilted my ear towards him. "What was that? I didn't catch what you just said."

"I said…I have a…date with him."

"Is that all?" I asked as I walked closer and kneeled down to look at his wardrobe. "You didn't have to lie about that. If you like Jareck then you should date him."

"Well, I don't really like guys like that…it's just…he asked me and I want to look my best, no matter the occasion." I could definitely tell he was lying this time. I just wondered if he realized it was a lie.

"Well, regardless of your motives, Jareck likes light purple colored clothes." I rooted through all his shirts until I found one in a pretty lilac colored dress shirt. It didn't look like Usopp wore it very often. "This'll work. It's nice."

I handed the fabric to him. "Are you sure he'll like this?"

"Positive. Do you have any dressy pants around here? And maybe some dress shoes too?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Wear those, then." I said, smiling.

"Okay. Um, thank you Cassie." He said awkwardly as I stood up to leave.

I smiled. "No problem. So, when is this date?"

He blushed. "It's not a real date, really. And tomorrow."

I laughed at the expression on his face. "Well, have fun."

Jareck's POV

I stood by the table in the galley, waiting on my adorable date. I had asked Mai to tell him to meet me here. Sanji had already set the table for me and had agreed to prepare all the food. Man, was I lucky he owed me for helping him with that smoking thing.

When the door opened, I looked over to a sight that nearly took my breath away. That couldn't be a coincidence that he was wearing my favorite color. He doesn't look like the type to wear that kind of thing.

That left only one possibility. He had help from either Cassie or Mai. The mere thought brought a smile to my face. Now I know he likes me if he bothered to find out what I like.

"Hello, Hot Pants. You look really nice tonight." I said appraisingly.

"Th-thanks. You too." His eyes skimmed over the dark blue vest I wore over a dress shirt, with a pair of black slacks completing the look.

I pulled his seat out for him and he sat down nervously. Aw, how cute. After I took my own seat, Sanji walked over to the table carrying two plates of Chicken Cordon Blue. This was a surprise to me as I had just asked Sanji to cook a fancy dish that he knew Usopp liked.

Usopp licked his lips and I could practically see his mouth water. One day I'd get him to look at me that way, too.

I nodded my thanks to Sanji and he walked away, giving Usopp and me some privacy.

We chatted for a while and I could see he was slowly growing more attached to me, especially when I complimented him. He seemed to enjoy that I pretended to believe his made up stories and as he was bragging about himself, he slowly opened himself up more and more to me.

I felt a little sorrow when the date was over. This was a really nice night and I didn't want it to end. But I knew it had to if I wanted more nice nights with him. Next time, however, he'd have to swallow his pride and ask me out.

Walking him back to his room, I held his hand and smiled in delight when he let me hold it.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Usopp." I said as I let go of his hand when we were in front of his door.

"Wait…that's it?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah. What else did you expect?"

He blushed. "Well, nothing. It was nothing."  
Feeling brave, I took a step forward into his personal space. Closing my eyes, I placed my lips on his and kissed him for all I was worth. I pulled back after a few seconds.

Usopp was speechless.

I chuckled. "Goodnight."

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So, what'd you think of that one? Leave a review and let us know!


	21. At First A Dream

**Yay! Kya typed this up fast! Hopefully, both of us will update faster in the future.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own One Piece. However, Cassie, Mai, and Jareck belong to us.**

* * *

**MAI'S POV**

I hunted down Luffy and asked him if he wanted me to sing a few songs before lunch. He said yes of course, so I swiftly grabbed my keyboard out of my room and ran back to where Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper(he must have invited the two of them to watch while I was gone) were patiently waiting for me to return. I played many songs for them, including: "Innocence, Butterflies Don't Lie, Perfect, Lullaby for a Stormy Night, and A Pirate's Life for Me". The boys really enjoyed that last song for obvious reasons.

I was just about to start singing a song called "Colorblind" when Sanji announced loudly that lunch was ready. I quickly put my keyboard back in my room and rushed to galley. Today's lunch smelled really good and I want to get some before Luffy ate it all.

Once I got at in the galley I sat next to Zoro.

"So how was your nap?" he asked smiling at me. My heart fluttered and I smiled back. I couldn't help it. It always made me ridiculously happy knowing that just being near Zoro I could make him smile.

"It was pretty nice actually," I told him as Sanji set our food in front of us.

"You sound surprised".

"Well I don't usually sleep that peacefully..." I said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I get nightmares sometimes. Its nothing really." Waving my hand dismissively. I don't want him to worry about me. Zoro frowns slightly as if he's not completely convinced, but he doesn't push the subject further thankfully. The rest of the lunch was spent talking about other things, such as the fact that we'd be landing on an island called Nay Cray Cove, tomorrow morning. It was an island known for wide varieties of alcohol. This pleased Zoro and I very much. We were going to spend the day bar hopping. I fully intended to get absolutely wasted at said island, as did Zoro.

Zoro also got into a fight with Sanji. There was nothing unusual about that except that the fight seemed a bit more intense then usual. Sanji must have been on edge because of the nicotine withdrawal. I'd have to talk to Zoro about that later. The fights were bound to get worse this than this as Sanji went through more withdrawal. Besides, I disliked their little brawls anyway because they were loud and gave me headaches.

In the end the fight was broken up when Nami hit them both upside the head with her fist.

After lunch I spent a few hours coming up with new songs to sing before going up on the deck to train. I'd wanted to spar with Zoro but decided against it. Zoro looked like he could kick my butt in such a match, even without his swords. So I just trained alone; shadowboxing imaginary enemies and going through martial arts techniques. When I was finished training I quickly showered and changed before Sanji announced that dinner was ready. During dinner I noticed that both Ussop and Jareck were missing.

"Huh," I thought out loud. "They're missing. I wonder why?"

"Whose missing?" Zoro asked me.

"Ussop-san and Jareck."

"Oh they're not eating with us," Cassie answered. "They're on a date."

"What?!" both Zoro and I asked at the same time.

"What, did they decide to start dating while I was training?" I asked her.

"Well, yeah actually they did," She said with a grin.

I grinned back. "They are going to to be such a cute couple."

"Hopefully. Ussop was still kinda in denial about the whole thing even though it's obvious he likes Jareck."

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "How can he be in denial if he's going on a date?"

Cassie shrugged, "Dunno. It was actually kinda funny seeing him obsess over what clothes to wear while trying to deny that he was going on an actual date."

"He was obsessing over his clothes?" Zoro asked with an amused smirk.

"Yup," she told us with a grin. "He even asked me what Jareck's favorite color was."

"Ussop definitely likes him then. There's no way he'll be able to deny that for long," he said.

"Especially if he's dating Jareck," I said with a grin.

It was nighttime now. Time for me to go to sleep, but I felt nervous as I walked toward my room. I'd acted all nonchalant when I'd told Zoro about my nightmares. I was actually quite scared I'd have a really bad one tonight. I don't know why. It's not like I had nightmares every night. I was just as likely to have a perfect normal dream and sleep peacefully all through the night. Despite this nervous feeling I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

_I was outside in a park. It was warm and bright but no one else was there besides me. I didn't mind though. It was peaceful with no one else around. I was sitting on a bench in the middle of the park humming a random tune when out of some nearby bushes hopped out a little white bunny rabbit. The bunny stopped in its tracks when it saw me; its little bunny nose twitching cutely. I instantly stopped humming and became nervous under its unblinking gaze._

_You might think it odd that I'd become nervous a cute little bunny rabbit, but as I mentioned before most animals (except Cassie's cat, Tao, who's little off kilter if you ask me. I mean what kind of cat actually likes being in the water?)tend to dislike me. The bunny didn't seem to want to attack me though. After awhile of staring at me the bunny hopped up onto my lap and made itself comfortable. I sighed in relief that the little bunny wasn't to attack me and began scratching behind the little bunny's ears._

"_Thanks for not attacking me little guy." I said while smiling down at the rabbit. The rabbit looked up at me with its coal black eyes and suddenly began to speak. "Don't thank me just yet," he said to me. As the bunny said this the skies to began to darken, thunder boomed across the sky, the temperature plummeted, and the bunny's form began to change. At a particularly loud snap of thunder I fell off the bench, eyes widened in fear at the creature morphing in front of me and the scenery becoming ever darker and ever colder. _

"_Your bright little world is about to get a whole lot darker girly!" The creature shouted and as he did he grew to the size and form of a man, his fur seemed to melt and shift into white clothes and dark purple hair. His black bunny eyes turned blood red and and an aura of darkness began to swirl around him. I wanted to run but it seemed I no longer had control of my body. The man stooped down next to me grinned. "I haven't seen someone so easily trapped in my little night-traps for quite some time." he said as his pale hand caressed my cheek. _

"_This may be a dream," he said to me. "But your terror will definitely be real. I've not much time to play so let's get started, shall we?" As soon as he said that, dark roots shot out the ground and and wrapped around my wrist and ankles. Then he left me(to get a better view he said) as all manner of horrible monsters came out of nowhere and began to attack me. He might have been laughing. I couldn't be sure. I couldn't hear him all that well over the sounds of my own screaming._

In the morning I woke up in a panic, mouth open in silent scream, tangled in my sheets, and my heart beating like crazy. It took me a few moments to realize I'd just had I nightmare and that I was okay. I remembered that the dream a had something to do with claws and a darkened sky but as I lay there trying to calm myself down, even those vague details were starting to slip away. So I decided to just not worry about it. After all, it was only a dream.


	22. Information Station

_ We don't own One Piece but I know Kya wishes she owned Zoro._

* * *

_Cassie_

"Hey, Mai," I asked as I followed her off the ship. "What are you planning on doing today?" We had reached a new island, called Nay Cray Cove.

She snorted a laugh. "Isn't it obvious? Zoro-san and I are going bar-hopping."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys are alcoholics."

She stuck her tongue out at me.

"What are you, five?" I smirked. "Stop acting like a kid, little sis."

"I could have this argument with you over and over again, but I'm choosing not to for the sake of my sanity." Mai sighed. "So, what do you plan on doing today?"

I pursed my lips. Mai probably wouldn't like what I was about to do. "Going to get some intel. There's a naval office here. There aren't any actual marines who can hurt me. Most of the people who work there are retired marines. It's just an office where they keep info. I touched base with the son of one of my dad's buddies who works here. He's going to get me access to the files if I can sneak past security and meet him in the classified area."

"Do you think that's such a good idea?" Mai asked nervously. "This guy is a marine's kid. You sure you can trust him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mai, I'm a marine's kid and I'm a freaking pirate. I've known Kendall even longer than you, since we were kids. I just never saw him nearly as often. Trust me, he's a good guy. He's going to give me access to the pirate files so I can try to get more information on the Bloody Raiders. And, also, I'm going to check and see what all information they have on our crew."

Mai sighed. "Okay, be careful. Now I'm going to go get drunk so I won't have to think about what you're doing."

I rolled my eyes again. "You were going to get drunk anyway."

She just grinned as she walked away.

I walked quietly to the base. Once I got close enough I entered stealth mode and made my way inside. Eventually, I spotted Kendall talking to one of the other worker's there. The worker handed him a key and Kendall smiled.

"Thanks, man. My father really needs those files to write his report. I'll be right back."

Still in stealth mode, I followed Kendall down the long hallway he was walking in. He opened a door with the key he held and left it slightly ajar. I slipped through and pushed the door shut the rest of the way.

"Hey, Cassie," He said, looking at the many drawers of files.

"Hi, Kendall. Thanks for doing this," I muttered. "This is important. I need to find my mom."

"No problem," He turned to face me, finally. His green-grey eyes shined and his hair was a mess of dark purple. Kendall was only three years older than me, but it always seemed as if he was really six or seven years older. "So, you never did tell me which crew has your mom."

I walked over to the file cabinets and opened the section for "B" as they were in alphabetical order. I searched through it for a minute before smiling and pulling out what I'd found. "Ah, here it is! The Bloody Raider."

For a second it looked like his eyes flashed in surprise, but I couldn't be sure. "Really? Are you sure?"

I frowned. "Of course I am. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I don't know a lot about pirates but I know most of the crew's captains. I thought the Bloody Raiders had a more feminist captain. I guess I just assumed that she wouldn't have female slaves."

His answer placated me so I let my eyes read over the file for the Bloody Raiders. I memorized the most important information. Once I was done I placed the file back in the cabinet and walked towards the "S" cabinet and found the file labeled "Straw Hats". Inside I found a folder for all our bounties'. I laughed when I saw Chopper's ridiculously low bounty. Somehow, I wasn't even in the file, although Mai and Jareck were. That was probably just because of how good I was with staying low key in the public, though. Good. That means that dad probably isn't for sure that I'm a pirate yet. But he has to know that Mai and Jareck are so he would have assumed that I was with them. Why hasn't he reported me yet? Once the Navy found out about me, I knew my bounty would skyrocket immediately due to my spy skills.

Before I put the file up I laughed again when I saw Mai's bounty. Only 1000 beli. Of course, she hasn't really done anything to make her a threat yet either. Jareck's bounty was a little higher at 3000 beli, probably because he was more intimidating. I placed the file back in the cabinet and turned back towards Kendall.

"Thank you, again, for doing this. It means a lot." I said, sincerely.

He smiled. "Hey, no problem. Now we really need to get out of here before we get caught."

I nodded. "I need to get going, anyway. I'll come visit next time if we ever come back to this island. Bye, Kendall. Thanks for everything."

"See you later, Cassie. Take care." He waved goodbye as I slipped into stealth mode and exited the building.

I made my way back to the ship. It was time to relax after all that hard work. Hopefully, Sanji will make up some of those awesome cocktails if he wasn't still in too bad of a mood from his withdrawl.

* * *

Review, please! If you do, then the Easter bunny will bring you lots of chocolate.


	23. Drunk N' Dunkin'

**Sorry this took so long. We update when we can.**

**Note: **_*********_** = swearing. It's censored 'cause we're keeping that T rating. No higher, but you can probably figure it out if you think about it for like two seconds.**

**Mai's POV**

I blinked at the way too bright light filtering in through the window for a few seconds before realizing I was in my room. How had I gotten here? Memory was a bit fuzzy at the moment. I stretched, or at least I tried to stretch only realize something warm and heavy was preventing me from moving. I looked down to find Zoro snuggled up against me, his arms wrapped tight around my waist, and snoring softly. My face flushed lightly and I furrowed my brows in confusion.

I mean I was dating Zoro so I didn't really mind that Zoro was in my bed. It's just Zoro isn't usually so cuddly. Also, my body was getting the prickly pins and needle feeling you get when you start to go numb. I was torn between letting him stay like that, sleeping peacefully. He was just cute like this and all snuggly. He reminded me of Tao. It was sweet; little Zoro-kitty.

"Aw. Zoro-kitty. That's so _***********_ cute. I should start callin' you that," I slurred.

Clearly I was still drunk. I would never say something like out loud if I were sober. Zoro hated being called cute almost as much as he hated weird nicknames.

Eventually I decided I needed to get up to get ready for the day. I squirmed around in Zoro's grip for a while but only managed to get one hand free.

"_********_!" I swore loudly in frustration. Even while sleeping, Zoro was insanely strong.

"Zoro-kitty, wake your _*******_ up!" I half yelled half slurred as I shook Zoro's shoulder with my free hand. Zoro woke up groggily blinking up at me, and letting me go before rolling over onto the other side of the bed.

"Good morning to you too Mai," He said to me, his voice laced with sarcasm. I tried to stand up off the bed only for a wave of dizziness to wash over me, making fall back onto the bed.

"Whoa, the worlds is spinning, spinning, and spinning Zoro-kitty!"

Zoro turned to me with a slight frown on his face.

"Are you still drunk, Mai?" He asked.

"No."

"I don't believe you." He said.

"Well, maybees a little bit." I admitted with a small giggle.

"Zoro-kitty is so cute." I said as I crawled over to Zoro and poked his cheek.

"I am not _cute._" He said as he moved my hand away from his from his face.

"And stop calling me Zoro-kitty. I thought only Cassie gave people weird nicknames."

"Nope. Mai gives them too when she's drunk," I heard a familiar voice say from the direction of my bedroom door. "She also swears a lot." I turned my head in the direction of the doorway to see Jareck leaning against the door frame.

"Mornin' Jare-bear!" I cried as I hopped to my feet. I swayed slightly but managed to stay up this time.

"Hey darlin'. Hey sweetness," he replied.

"Stop calling me sweetness!" Zoro answered back. His demand was of course ignored by Jareck.

"How are you now that you've woken up babe?"

"Fantasma*******gorical!" I replied cheerfully.

Jareck grinned.

"Is she always like this when she's drunk?" Zoro asked.

"Yup," Jareck answered. "You probably don't remember her being like this last night cause you probably still were drunk you're self then." He said as he walked into my room and started looking thru the random piles of stuff on my desk. Zoro closed his eyes. He looked like he was going to go back to sleep.

"Whasha lookin' for Jare-bear?" I asked as I walked/staggered to his side.

"Your camera, babe. You brought it with you when we went bar hopping, didn't you?"

"Yush!" I exclaimed excitedly as I pulled out my camera and handed it to him.

"Here ya goes!" I told him. Jareck chuckled as he took the camera and started flipping through the pictures on it.

"You're so silly when you're drunk, Mai. Lay back down before you fall down," he told me as he continued to flip through the pictures.

"Okies!" I said as I flopped back down on the bed next to Zoro. Zoro didn't even stir.

"Boring building, boring, boring stage, boring, and more boring," Jareck commented as he went through the pictures. "Wait. What's this? Hey sweetness do you remember anything you did at the Lion's Den Tavern?" Jareck sounded amused. I must have took a picture of something really good.

"No. Not really, and how many times do I have to say not to call me that?" Zoro answered, not even opening his eyes.

"So you don't remember making out with a guy with red hair with purple streaks and a lot of piercings?" Jareck's voice was practically dripping with amusement at this point.

"What?!" Zoro exclaimed. He shot so fast out the bed that I felt another wave of dizziness wash over me. If I'd have been standing I would have fell over.

"Let me see that!" he said as he snatched the camera away from Jareck to look at the screen. He blinked at the screen and began to stutter.

"Wha-Ho-When the _********_ did this happen? I do not remember doing this." He said.

"I do! I was awesome!" I shouted from my place on the bed. It figures one of the few things I'd remember from the night before would something like this.

"I so dared you ta do thish. You went waaayyy over the dare time lemon."

"You mean time limit?" Jareck asked.

"That's what I juss said."

"How long was the time limit?"

"Five seconds!"

"How long did they kiss?"

"Therteen seconds. I counted. They had to stop cause some *** started a fire in the back of tavern so we had to leave."

"I don't remember doing any of this." Zoro said. I giggled.

"That's what the pictures for silly Zoro-kitty." I told him. Zoro sighed.

"Why would you dare me to do something like that anyway? I'm dating you. I shouldn't be kissing other people."

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Guys kissing is hot?"

"It definitely is," Jareck said agreeing with me.

"Do not encourage her. She'll just keep daring me to do these kind of things of whenever we're both drunk," Zoro told him.

"And that's a bad thing?" Jareck asked. "Looked like you were having fun."

"You're not getting the point. I'm dating Mai. Kissing other people is not an option."

"So what you're saying is that if you weren't dating Mai you'd make out with that guy all day long."

"No!" Zoro shouted. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I don't want kiss guys. I just want to kiss Mai! She's the one I'm dating." Wait. What? I blinked through my drunken haze. Did I hear that correctly?

"You wanna kiss me? You should totally do that now." I said, breaking off into giggles. "Miss me! Miss me! Now ya gotta kiss me!~" I sang loudly. Zoro sweat-dropped.

"One, I can't miss you because I never left. Two, you have alcohol breath. (So does he probably but I was in no position to argue at the time.) So there will be no kissing right now."

"Aw." I whined. "But choo kissed that guy…"

"Because you dared me and I was drunk!" He exclaimed.

I yawned sleepily. I guess was still tired.

"You should go to back to sleep babe." Jareck told me.

"Don't wanna. What about food?" I complained.

"Go to sleep babe. You can eat later," he told me as he pulled my cover over me.

I yawned that didn't want to once more before I heard Zoro say he was going to sleep too as I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_I was in the same park I'd been in before but now it was night. There was no cutesy bunny rabbit to lull me into a false sense of security this time. I was already trapped. Bound by the same branches that had me down before, there was no way I was going to escape. My clothes already ripped earlier from the beasts that had attacked me made me shiver in the chill night air. The man with the dark purple hair and coal black eyes was suddenly next to me. I had no idea where he'd come from. He seemed to have just appeared out of nowhere. He grinned as he knelt down next to me._

"_I'm not afraid of you." I said, my voice shaking slightly._

"_You're such a bad liar girly." He said. His grin widened._

"_I can see all your fears, your likes and loves, your dislikes and hates, and you most definitely are afraid of me. Soon you will have something new to be afraid of. "He said with a smirk. He snapped his fingers and I couldn't believe what strolled through the darkness. It was Zoro. Only not. His eyes were dark like the man kneeling beside me with no whites at all in his eyes. I told myself this wasn't real. _

_I even pointed out to myself that the evil man beside had once even told me this was all just a dream. This was just a nightmare. Even as I told myself this I felt a wave of terror wash over me. Even if this was just a dream it felt way too real. It was horrible. I did not want to see this. I didn't want to see Zoro staring at me with those dark soulless eyes. I wanted to wake up but couldn't. I was terrified of what the man with the purple hair would make him do._

_Zoro walked over to me and kneeled on the other side of my body. He grinned revealing sharp white teeth. The man with the purple hair grinned and stood. Zoro caressed my cheek with his left hand. _

"_Mai. You're so pretty. You look good enough to eat." He said to me. I recoiled with disgust. I really hoped he wasn't going to eat me after he turned into some creepy monster._

"_Take her down. Once get down far enough you can do with her what you like." The man with the purple hair told Zoro. Zoro's grin widened even more. _

"_Alright. This is gonna be fun." Zoro ripped the braches away from my body and before I could even think of running away he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. _

"_Don't struggle," he told me. "You won't get away." Of course I ignored him and struggled trying to get out of his grasp anyway. I didn't get free of course. Even in my dreams Zoro was extremely strong. Zoro walked out the park with me towards a cliff. _

'_Please tell me he is not going to do what I think he's going to do. Please tell me 'take her down' means something else,' I thought to myself as we got closer and closer to the cliff's edge. Of course he was going to do what I thought he was going to to do. What else is a person planning on doing if they walk to the edge of a cliff? When we finally got to the edge Zoro leapt off the edge with me still slung over his shoulder._

_I let out scream of terror as we plummeted into the ocean below. As Zoro dragged me deeper and deeper into the water his body began to transform and I began to have a harder time holding my breath. Zoro began to grow in size. His skin was turning grey and his arms and legs were turning into fins and flippers. When he finally let me go I knew exactly what he was. It looked like my earlier fear of being eaten was about to come true because Zoro had become a large great white shark. _

_I let out a soundless scream of terror, water quickly filling my lungs, as the shark turned around, its jaws open wide above just as it was about to bite me in half._

* * *

I woke screaming and flailing my heart beating a million miles a minute. I felt something restrain my hands and that just made me struggle harder.

"Mai. Mai! Mai, calm down it's just me, Zoro!"

I opened eyes to see Zoro staring back at me, concern written all over his face; his real face, not that horrid thing with those soulless dead eyes, like in my nightmare. I broke down in tears I was so happy to see his face. I didn't want to cry but the tears just kept coming. Zoro just held me close and waited for me to stop. When I finally did his shirt was soaked with my tears.

"Are you okay now?" He asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "I feel a little better now."

"Mai, what were you dreaming about? You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep…"

"…I don't want to talk about…" I said while looking down at the bed sheets instead of looking at him.

"Should I wake Cassie or Jareck?" He asked. "Would you rather tell one of them?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "You can't tell them about this. They don't know anything about it."

"But haven't you had a nightmare like this before?" He asked.

"Yeah, but I'll be fine. It's just a dream it can't hurt me. Please don't tell them." I begged.

"I don't know Mai. I was really worried when you started screaming… I didn't know what to do. What if it happens again?"

"Please." I pleaded once more. "I don't want to worry them." Zoro sighed.

"Alright. I won't tell them." I sighed with relief.

"But I'm staying in here tonight."

"That's alright with me." I said. "I wouldn't have let you leave me now anyway." I told him as I drifted back to sleep, comforted by the fact that Zoro would be here to wake me if I had another nightmare.

**Please review! A is working on her chapter now so it should be up soon.**


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